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. “There are vessels in pool 14 near Le Claire, Iowa, through to St. Louis,” 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.
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.
