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Mississippi slowly opens to barge traffic

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:05 AM CDT | () comments

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects to open the Mississippi River to barge traffic as far south as Keokuk, Iowa, by this weekend, but that will not clear the logjam of barges stranded by floodwaters.

Lock & Dam 16 at Muscatine, Iowa, should open today, with Locks & Dams 17, 18 and 19, which are at Keokuk, scheduled to reopen by Saturday.

“But south of there, it looks to be at least the 3rd of July if not later,” said Bill Gretten, the corps’ operations manager for the Mississippi River, Rock Island District. “It’s a different river when you get south of Keokuk.”

Below Keokuk, the Des Moines River is a major tributary into the Mississippi. Plus, he said Missouri was hit early Wednesday by a 4- to 5-inch rainstorm “that has stopped the falling of the river there.”

In Canton, Mo., the water is still 8 feet over the locks, he said.

The river level dropping below flood stage is only one of the factors involved in reopening the locks. “Locks 16, 17 and 18 were completely underwater,” Gretten said. “There was water over the lock walls, machinery submerged, buildings surrounded by water. It’s only in the last couple days the water has gotten just below the lock walls, so we have some major cleanup efforts under way.”

Mark Kane, a public affairs specialist for the corps, said that at some of the locks, crews have not been able to assess damages. In some cases, workers have to reach the job by boat.

Ahead of the flood, machinery, motors, electrical equipment and other items that could be moved were taken to higher ground. Now, all of that needs to be reinstalled. “It’s not as easy as putting on wiper blades,” Kane said.

Gretten said what does not have to be reinstalled must be cleaned of mud and muck. “We have to change thousands of gallons of oil that was contaminated … there’s just a lot that has to happen to get the locks back open.”

The task has meant workers pulling 24-hour shifts in many cases. “The crews are real good at this; they are experienced, having lived through 1993 and 2001. We’ll be back in business,” he said.

But each time another lock opens, it is welcome news to the barge industry.

Larry Daily, president of Alter Barge Co., said a crew made a delivery to ADM in Clinton, Iowa, and another was expected to deliver to River Gulf Grain today.

He said while Alter barges can travel between the Quad-Cities and St. Paul, that does not cure all his problems. “We still have 130 barges and four towboats out there,” he said.

But until the river is completely open, Gretten said barge traffic is very limited. “Most traffic on the river goes through the (Rock Island) District from St. Paul to St. Louis. There’s some movement, but not much and the reason for that is everything from Lock 16 to St. Louis remains closed. There aren’t many places you can get to to do business right now.

“We’ve got a long way before we’re done with this flood.”

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.