Officials with the Vicksburg Bridge Commission will send a letter to the operators of a Indiana-based barge line after one of its vessels struck a pier on the old U.S. 80 bridge across the Mississippi River Saturday.

The letter will hold the barge operator, American Commercial Barge Line of Jeffersonville, Ind., responsible for any damage to the bridge or expenses incurred in possible repairs, Bridge Superintendent Herman Smith said at the commission’s regular meeting Wednesday.

At about 6 p.m. Saturday, the driver of a push boat pulling a 35-barge tow down the river lost control of the vessel and hit pier 3 on the Mississippi side of the 76-year old span, causing extensive damage to one of two barges involved in the impact, Smith said.

The barge line appeared to make its approach to moving under the bridge at too-sharp an angle, Smith said, adding that the Isle of Capri Casino and property belonging to Ergon Marine were nearly hit by the front of the tow.

No injuries resulting from the accident were reported to U.S. Coast Guard officials in Memphis, Smith said.

Those two barges attached to the boat, the Joe Bobzien, were knocked out of the tow line as a result of the impact, described by Smith to commissioners as a &#8220sideways” hit. Three were empty, Smith said.

Despite the letter, Smith said the majority of the damage seemed to be done above the waterline.

&#8220There was very little damage to the pier itself,” Smith said, adding that the slow rate of speed contributed to the minimal pier damage.

&#8220It was nearly stopped when it hit the pier. It amounted to a scrape,” he said.

Representatives of Kansas City Southern Railway, to whom the commission leases its rail space for a per-car fee, arrived on the scene three hours later and met with Smith again Sunday to assess possible effects.

Traffic on the river returned to normal within about four hours following the accident, Smith said.

ACBL is a carrier of both liquid and dry cargo, including coal, grain, steel products and bulk ores. The barge that hit the pier Saturday is believed to have carried soybean and rolls of galvanized steel.

The accident came a year after barges pushed by three different towboats hit the old span or the Interstate 20 bridge in an eight-day period. Two barges were sunk and several were grounded on the river banks. No one was injured in either.

In other business, the commission: