Barge Tows Delayed Near Hannibal, Mo.
Barge tows traveling on the upper Mississippi River faced lengthy delays on Wednesday near Hannibal, Mo., after traffic was stopped for two days to dredge several spots in the river, river officials said. The river was closed in several areas between Hannibal and Quincy, Ill., on Monday when several barges reported shallow water conditions. The Corps of Engineers used a mechanical crane to dredge the shallow areas and carve a new channel in the river to allow barges to safely travel. "There were about three locations down there that had run out of water, but things have gotten cleaned up since this morning. Traffic is moving again," said Bill Gretten of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island district.
USACE Details Mississippi Lock And Dam Closures
Several locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River will be closed to all navigation from January to early March for maintenance and repairs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. Bill Gretten, chief of the lock and dam section of the Corps' Mississippi River Project, said maintenance is normally done in the winter when parts of the river are frozen and vessels are unable to navigate through the ice. Although the weather has been moderate so far this year, water temperatures have been around 33 degrees Fahrenheit, one degree above freezing. "If we get a couple of nights of cold weather, the river will be covered with ice," Gretten said. The Corps has issued several notices of the impending shutdowns, allowing the barge industry to coordinate shipments ahead of the lock closures.
