Barge Traffic Still Slow On Mississippi
Barge traffic on U.S. Midwest rivers continued slow as low water levels on the upper and lower Mississippi River and ice buildup on the Illinois River kept navigation treacherous, Reuters reported on Wednesday. "At the Memphis gauge, the water level is about three feet below the desired level," said Lt. Brian Meier, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, Memphis office. "The forecast is for water levels to stay pretty steady for next couple days," he said. Low water levels and a barge grounding about 30 miles south of Memphis this week caused river officials to issue a travel advisory from Cairo, Illinois, to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Southbound tows were limited to 30 barges and northbound tows limited to 36 barges with a 10-foot draft or less. In the St.
Barges Start Moving South of Peoria
Barges were moving through the LaGrange Lock south of Peoria on the Illinois River on Tuesday after workers broke through a wall of ice near the lock late on Saturday, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman said. "LaGrange is open but traffic is moving slowly. Ice is still very intense but we're still locking boats with a width restriction of 95 feet," said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Justine Barati. "There was up to eight barges waiting but we're down to three southbound tows and one northbound waiting to get through the lock," Barati said. The U.S. Coast Guard closed a 60-mile stretch of the Illinois River near the LaGrange lock between mile marker 119 near Havana, Illinois, southward to Valley City, Illinois, at mile marker 60, on Thursday night.
USCG Issues High Water Warnings
The U.S. Coast Guard issued a safety travel advisory for sections of the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers due to rising water levels near St. Louis. The Coast Guard said barges traveling on the upper-Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, (mile markers 205.0 to 55.2) and on the Missouri River near St. Louis (mile markers 0.0 to 150.0) were advised to watch for sudden changes in river conditions over the next several days. Rain over the weekend in the upper Midwest caused water levels in the St. Louis area to rise and they were expected to keep moving up over the next several days. The National Weather Service along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecasted an increase in river levels from 5 to 10 feet over the next 24 to 48 hours.
As Mississippi Rises, Locks Close
River locks around St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn. were expected to close on Tuesday due to rising water conditions, further delaying the latest tow arrival to St. Paul in the last 30 years. "We're looking at having to close the three Twin Cities locks. We've hit 1997 flood levels, and we may have to close locks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 5a on the Mississippi," said Dennis Erickson, chief of operations for the Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul. The closings affect 120 miles of the upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis south to Winona, Minn. Based on current weather forecasts for the area, the Army Corps of Engineers anticipated closing the locks to all river traffic from April 10 through April 20. Water levels on the Mississippi have risen more than two feet in the Minneapolis-St.
High Water Forces Lock Closures
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close additional locks on the upper Mississippi River north of St. Louis beginning on Monday (April 23) due to rising water levels, Army Corps officials said. Lock 22 near Hannibal, Mo., about 150 miles north of St. Louis, was scheduled to close on Monday afternoon and Lock 21 near Quincy, Ill., will close on Tuesday. The Army Corps had closed Lock 20 at Canton, Mo., over the weekend but was keeping Lock 19 near Keokuk, Ia., open for local traffic. So all locks from Canton north to Minnespolis, except Keokuk, were now closed to traffic due to high water. The latest lock closures are north of the confluence of the Illinois River, where barge traffic remains unaffected by the flood conditions on the upper Mississippi.
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 things…
Mississippi River Traffic Stalled
Mississippi River barge traffic near Burlington, Iowa, remained backed up on Thursday after lock 18 in Gulfport, Illinois, reopened Wednesday afternoon after a day-long shutdown, river officials said. Lock 18 was closed Tuesday morning when a breakaway barge caused two loaded barges to sink near the lock and left six other barges adrift at the dam. "We've got two barges still floating in the dam and two sunk, with the salvage unit on the way to clear it out. But we've been up and running since noon yesterday," said Frank Robbins, lock master at Gulfport, which is about 60 miles south of Davenport, Iowa. But river traffic was still feeling the effects of the shutdown on Thursday morning, as 5 northbound barge tows and 9 southbound tows were backed up outside lock 18.
