U.S. Army Corps to Close Upper Mississippi As Waters Rise
Rising flood waters were expected to make 11 locks and dams impassable on the mid- and upper-Mississippi River and force the closure of the river later on Monday from Bellevue, Iowa, to Saverton, Missouri, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The closure would be the most extensive since 2008 on that stretch of the country's busiest waterway, said Ron Fournier, public affairs officer for the Army Corps' Rock Island district. At least 80 barge tows are expected to be affected by the closure. The Mississippi River is the main shipping route to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where about 60 percent of all U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat exports exit the country. Near-record rains caused extensive flooding last week in parts of Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas.
Mississippi Traffic Picks Up
Traffic on the mid-Mississippi River was picking up this week from Davenport, Iowa, southward as ice melt improved navigation and locks were open to pass barges, river officials said Tuesday. āThere are vessels in pool 14 near Le Claire, Iowa, through to St. Louis,ā said Ron Fournier, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman for the Rock Island District. About a half-dozen tows were traveling from Le Claire, Iowa, at lock and dam 14 just north of Davenport, to Muscatine, Iowa. But the the bulk of the traffic, about 70 tows, was moving from Muscatine (river mile marker 457) southward to St. Louis (river mile marker 180), Fournier said. Ice was still keeping barges from moving north of Le Claire, river officials said.
Low Water Hampers River Traffic
Already low water on the Mississippi River around St. Louis was expected by this weekend to approach levels too shallow for barge transportation, and a damaged lock slowed river traffic near Davenport, Iowa, river officials said Thursday. The St. Louis gauge for the Mississippi was at 3.0 feet on Wednesday and was forecast to hit 0.0 feet by Saturday. River traffic can continue operation through St. Louis until the gauge hits -3.5 feet and the river channel is 9 feet deep, the shallowest depth at which barge traffic can pass. "Any time it gets below five feet on the St. Louis gauge, everybody starts to monitor that. And when it gets below zero the river industry will start forming a low action water group and you'll see restrictions on tows and other thingsā¦
