WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

[rockyrude]

Couldn't believe this news article

http://news.yahoo.com/11-mile-stretch-mississippi-river-closed-205415696.html

 

[mscher]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Not so mighty, if it has no water in it.

Interesting (to me anyway), that the ACE, only need to dredge 9 feet deep, for a loaded barge to pass.

 

[southkogs]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Last year when the Delta Mariner hit the bridge in KY I learned a little more about commercial traffic on the Mississippi. Some of those ships are pretty impressive. The Delta Mariner isn't that big a boat (84' / 8,679 GT), but she only draws 8' of water ...

Kinda' cool

 

[robert graham]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Yep, and last year it was flooding!...up and down!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Yeah, no dams on the Lower Mississippi, so it's suseptible to drought conditions.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Yeah, no dams on the Lower Mississippi, so it's suseptible to drought conditions.

I wonder how long it will be before the USACE will feel they need to control the flow on the Mississippi and start making plans to build dams ... If they haven't already.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Well they have resisted the urge since the 1930s. And doesn't the Tenn-Tom relieve some of the traffic on the Mighty Miss? Just use it more during low water. (I realize the boats that are stuck now can't be helped, but others can go around it, right?)

 

[Thalasso]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

I wonder how long it will be before the USACE will feel they need to control the flow on the Mississippi and start making plans to build dams ... If they haven't already.

I doubt your going to see any dams in your lifetime. They can't get any money to maintain the ones they have now.They soon don't do something with the ones on the Ohio in Pgh, they will have to close them. They already are closing some on the Allegheny river because of the lack of money for repairs.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Thalasso, if you think your first few dams on the Ohio are an issue, you should come to Peoria and look at this thing they call a lock and dam! It is pitifully small. And there's another just like it about 100 miles away. Major bottlenecks to commercial traffic, for sure.

But yeah, those couple dams west of Pittsburgh could be replaced by one big one, like on the rest of the river.

Ain't gonna happen, though.

 

[Thalasso]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Thalasso, if you think your first few dams on the Ohio are an issue, you should come to Peoria and look at this thing they call a lock and dam! It is pitifully small. And there's another just like it about 100 miles away. Major bottlenecks to commercial traffic, for sure.

But yeah, those couple dams west of Pittsburgh could be replaced by one big one, like on the rest of the river.

Ain't gonna happen, though.

Lock #2 on the Allegheny, the concrete wall is falling over. One of the locks on the Mon, the walls are literally held up from the outward pressure of the water. They are being closed as we speak. It isn't so much the size of the locks as it is the lack of maintenance. The money for that is being used somewhere else. Yes your right, there isn't going to be any new locks built.The barge companies here even asked them to increase the cost for locking through just to be used solely for maintenance.

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: WOW ! The Mighty Mississippi closed

Yeah, no dams on the Lower Mississippi, so it's suseptible to drought conditions.

Fed regs against building new dams, and even have to remove some formore natural water flow.