Shipping season comes to an end on Upper Mississippi River

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Dec 3, 2012

There’s no ice yet, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially closed the Upper Mississippi River shipping season on Monday, Dec.3, the Associated Press reports. That's two days sooner than last year. The 2012 navigation season opened on March 17.

Crews will now begin winter renovation and maintenance at Lock and Dam No. 6 near Trempealeau County Wisconsin, according to WCCO. Patrick Moes, with the Corp, said "the closure here doesn’t have anything to do with the drought conditions that are impacting navigation south of St. Louis."

In November, commodities giant Cargill and other ag firms feared low water levels could make the river impassable to barges and they would have to look for alternatives to get this year’s crops to the Gulf of Mexico.

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The Pioneer Press reports the first towboat and seven barges, headed to St. Paul, traveled through Red Wing and Hastings Saturday to mark the start of the season. The average opening is March 20.

The Edwin H. Gott pulled into the Duluth Seaway Port Wednesday morning. It is the final ship of the 2011 season. MPR reports the Soo Locks officially close Wednesday at midnight. The warm weather allowed the locks to stay open three days longer this last year.

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Softer grain exports brought only 72 ocean-going vessels to the Twin Ports this year, compared to last year's 104.