Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems alike. When drought develops, water levels fall, making river navigation harder and more expensive.In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s largest rivers, including the Rhine in Europe and the Yangtze in China, fell to historically low levels.
As 2022 moves into its final months, low water levels and drought form the basis of the news impacting inland waterways operators and barge companies. In the first week of October, numerous barges were reported grounded in the Mississippi River, particularly south of Baton Rouge. This has consequences: barge rates jumped 218% in St. Louis, compared to 2021.
U.S. soybean exports are trailing their normal autumn pace despite rising supplies from an accelerating harvest, as low river levels have slowed the flow of grain barges to export terminals, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data issued on Monday.Corn exports are also lagging their typical harvest-time rate, weekly USDA export inspections data showed.
Two stretches of the southern Mississippi River were reopened to commercial traffic over the weekend after dredging operations deepened the shipping channel near Memphis, Tennessee, and near Stack Island, Mississippi, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday.The major shipping waterway had been closed to vessel traffic at the two locations since at least last week after several barges and boats
The inland waterways have enjoyed several positive developments toward modernization of the system, particularly over the last two years.Annual appropriations that fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works mission have been steadily on the rise for the last nine fiscal years, specifically the Construction and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) accounts have been funded at historic levels.
New federal money promises dramatic impacts throughout the United States’ inland waterways system in 2022 and beyond. This report focuses on America’s central rivers; the Western rivers will be covered in a future report. These central rivers reach 11,000 miles, from Pennsylvania to Florida and from Texas to South Dakota.Consider the money within the U.S.
Waterway traffic is coming back. November 2021 saw 52.1 million tons moving on the U.S. inland waterway system, the highest monthly tonnage since October 2019, a few months before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shutdowns and stoppages of early 2020. Flows estimated by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the U.S.
A number of barges have gone aground in the Lower Mississippi River due to low water levels, the U.S. Coast Guard said.There are reports of barge groundings Tuesday near Stack Island, Mississippi, with a waterway restriction from mile marker 478 to 492 and Memphis, Tennessee, with a waterway closure from mile marker 686 to 676.
Numerous barges have run aground on the lower Mississippi River, and grain barge shipping rates are soaring to historic highs this week, as drought has dropped inland waterways to levels not seen in decades.And with little rain in the forecast, the low water levels are hampering already sluggish grain exports at the U.S. Gulf Coast, where some 60% of U.S.
Officials are working to clear a barge that sunk in Kentucky Lock’s chamber on Saturday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.The barge carrying gravel hung on the miter sill of the lock, which caused the bow to tip and take on water, lockmaster Caleb Skinner said.Both deckhands that were working at the time remained unharmed during the incident, which occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m.
Houston-based dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Memphis District for the rental of a 24-inch hydraulic cutterhead dredge, discharge pipe, and attendant plant for harbor dredging along the Mississippi River.The $7,335,450 contract was awarded June 2, 2022, with an anticipated completion date of February 28, 2023.
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