US Gulf:
Guidewall replacement work at Bayou Sorrel Lock was reported sporadically blocking Monday-through-Friday travel between 6:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Travel through Harvey Lock has been unavailable since Oct. 2 due to low water conditions. The Coast Guard recommended tows to detour through Algiers Lock.
Colorado Lock repairs underway since July 28 were scheduled to conclude on Oct. 14. The work has closed the site to traffic daily between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Delays were heard up to 10 hours on Oct. 9-10.
Travel through the Atchafalaya River’s Little Island Pass, Middle Island Pass, and Riverside Pass remains unavailable due to the presence of active underwater pipelines. Vessels can bypass the restrictions by detouring through the Port Allen Route.
Restrictions on towing lengths and widths remained in place on unassisted lockages at Algiers Lock, limiting vessels traveling without a support boat to four standard barges or two 30,000 mt tankers per turn. Larger lockages are possible with industry assistance. Delays were reported at 4-11 hours through week.
A Belle Chasse Bridge construction project slated to run through the end of the year is likely to prompt intermittent shutdowns lasting for up to 12 hours at a time. Industrial Lock passages were quoted up to nine hours early in the week.
Mississippi River:
Historic low water conditions continued to plague barge movements on the lower Mississippi River during the week.
Draft limits remained at 9.5 feet in both directions for the full length of the river, a 20-25% reduction from limits during normal operating conditions, although some barges were reported traveling with drafts up to 10.5 feet. Barge counts were also down to a maximum 25 units, below the 30-40 barges typically permitted. Taken together, cargo capacity on some tows was effectively reduced by more than 50% from normal levels.
Repeated groundings at multiple points along the river have also slowed travel, with many incidents causing a complete halt to movements lasting 12-48 hours. Some docks have reportedly set loading and unloading draft maximums at seven feet, further stretching delivery windows.
Dredging operations were underway to correct shoaling at multiple points along the river. At least 180 tows pushing more than 2,800 barges were in the queue to pass Stack Island (Mile 485) on Oct. 10, reportedly setting a record for the river’s largest transportation backlog. A dredging operation that closed the river on Oct. 1-5 continued to necessitate staggered one-way transits during the week, with delays stretching to seven days or more.
Dredging of the Baton Rouge Harbor on Oct. 7-15 forced vessels to transit at lower speeds. A dredging operation scheduled to begin on Oct. 11 at Mile 681 was anticipated to prompt one 24-hour shutdown every 48 hours, continuing through the project’s estimated Oct. 17 conclusion.
The river gauge at Vicksburg, Miss., was posted at 4.26 feet on Oct. 11, below the area’s Low Stage threshold, and was expected to drop to 2.20 feet by Oct. 25. The St. Louis gauge was observed at (-)2.28 feet and falling on Oct. 11.
Channel maintenance underway since Sept. 26 at Mile 618 wrapped up on Oct. 10, ending a period of southbound travel shutdowns during daylight hours.
A pipeline removal project scheduled for Mile 189 is scheduled for Oct. 17 through Nov. 8, prompting nightly closures between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The work is slated to pause on Oct. 23-25 and Nov. 1-3, reopening the area to 24-hour navigation.
Repairs underway at the I-10 bridge triggered a safety advisory at Miles 228-230, in effect for all boats and tows transiting the area. The effort is slated to continue 24 hours per day through the end of June 2023, also prompting intermittent navigation outages at the site.
Old River Lock at Mile 305 is completely shut to navigation through Nov. 13 due to miter gate replacement. Vessels traveling to the Red River are advised to detour through the Atchafalaya River while work is underway.
Illinois River:
Sources reported raised wickets at Peoria Lock and LaGrange Lock during the week, requiring lockages through both locations. Waits were observed up to six hours at Peoria Lock, while Corps data showed intermittent five-hour delays at LaGrange.Starved Rock Lock waits peaked at seven hours on Oct. 8-9.
The Illinois Waterway will effectively close to commercial navigation for roughly four months in the second and third quarters of 2023. A similar round of closures shut the river in 2020.
Ohio River:
Low water levels continued to be reported on the Ohio River, forcing nine-foot draft restrictions on the full length of the river. The limits were in effect for the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers as well. In addition, reduced depths in the Cairo, Ill., area were reported to limit towing lengths through the region.
The Cannelton Lock main chamber is shut for miter gate replacement through Nov. 11, prompting detours through the auxiliary chamber. Most tows were noted to require at least two passes to clear the lock. Long delays were reported as a result, with vessels waiting up to five days to pass during the week.
The main chamber at Montgomery Lock is slated to close from Oct. 17 through Dec. 16 for repairs and maintenance. Vessels will be required to detour through the secondary chamber, with delays expected. Belleville Lock waits were noted at 5-12 hours on Oct. 10.
On the Tennessee River, a long-term construction effort at Kentucky Lock triggered intermittent delays up to 12 hours during the week. Boats passing Wilson Lock saw waits up to 11 hours.
Planned closures at the Cumberland River’ Barkley Lock were revised to Oct. 17-21, sources said, shutting the lock to navigation daily between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. for inspections and repairs to the Bio-Acoustic Fish Fence system.
Arkansas River:
Norrell Lock is reportedly shut to daylight-hour navigation through Nov. 20, blocking passages daily between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Towing passing the site during overnight hours are limited to 70 feet of width. Additionally, the lock is scheduled to close completely to navigation on Jan. 30-31, 2023.