US Gulf:
Intermittent marine travel outages were expected between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. daily at the BNSF railroad bridge, located at Mile 1 of the Port Allen Route, through July 6. The closures were scheduled to repeat July 17 through Aug. 14. Reverse head conditions forced Harvey Lock to shut down on June 15, closing the site until further notice. No timeline for reopening was available on June 21.
Colorado Lock work begun on Dec. 5, 2022, was slated to conclude on June 23, sources said. The project was noted running 7:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. daily. Delays topped out at 19 hours during the week.
Bayou Sorrel Lock guidewall repairs scheduled to start on June 26 will slow lockages daily from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., through an estimated March 2024. Chamber repairs at Leland Bowman Lock, tentatively slated to kick off June 30, were expected to impact daytime navigation through approximately July 14.
Port Allen Lock delays were counted up at 14 hours, while Industrial Lock passages saw intermittent wait times in a wide 9-28 hour range. Sporadic Calcasieu Lock waits were noted at 4-8 hours. Boats were delayed by 5-21 hours at Brazos Lock on June 19-20.
Mississippi River:
Towing restrictions continued on the Mississippi River due to unseasonably low water levels. On the lower river, northbound tows were capped at 10-foot drafts from New Orleans to Cairo, falling from 11 feet reported one week earlier. Tows running downriver were permitted up to 11-foot drafts south of Cairo.
Southbound barge counts were reduced by 10-20% from normal levels, stretching delivery windows by an estimated 12-24 hours, while a safety advisory remained in effect at the lower river’s Miles 225-228.3 due to the Baton Rouge river gauge holding below the 16-foot mark. On the upper river, maximum drafts were reportedly cut by 5-15% for both northbound and southbound tows loading at St. Louis.
The Baton Rouge river gauge was noted at 9.22 feet and falling slowly on June 21. New Orleans was posted at 2.6 feet and holding. The Memphis gauge, shown hovering just above the (-)5.0-foot low stage on June 21 at (-)4.98 feet, was projected to fall into low stage on July 1.
Sources reported an overnight shutdown on June 19 at Mile 779 of the lower river after several vessel groundings were reported in the area. Passage was unavailable at Mile 537 on June 18-19 due to dredging. Rolling 24-hour shutdowns were expected in the area for the duration of the project.
Pipeline removal at the lower river’s Mile 9 shut the area to daytime navigation on June 20. Channel work underway since May 13 at Miles 931-933 limited southbound navigation from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., prompting delays in a 12-18 hour range. The project was scheduled to continue through mid-July. The Corps described work as 40% completed on June 5.
Illinois River:
Low water levels on the Illinois River extended draft reductions for the full length of the river. Sources noted maximum drafts at nine feet.
Planned shutdowns at Brandon Road Lock, Dresden Island Lock, and Marseilles Lock, set to continue through Sept. 30, effectively closed the river to commercial navigation. Starved Rock Lock is scheduled to close July 11-14 for miter gate repairs, temporarily removing Ottawa from the river’s list of available ports.
Wickets at Peoria Lock and LaGrange Lock remained down for the week, forcing tows to lock through both locations.
Ohio River:
Main chamber shutdowns at John T. Meyers Lock are underway through Aug. 20 for repairs to the floating mooring system. The site’s auxiliary chamber will close between Aug. 21 and Sept. 10 for miter gate work, after which the main chamber will shut once more from Sept. 11 to Nov. 17.
The New Cumberland Lock auxiliary chamber is closed through Aug. 18, sources said. Navigation remains available through the primary chamber. The Melville Lock secondary chamber is offline for repairs until Aug. 4. Auxiliary chamber travel at Meldahl Lock is unavailable through June 30.
Tows were required to use an assist boat on southbound travel through Smithland Lock due to strong outflows. The land chamber at Smithland is scheduled to shut Sept. 22 through Oct. 21 for miter gate machinery repairs, while the river chamber will close for miter gate machinery replacement from Oct. 22 to Nov. 20.
Planned maintenance will shut the Greenup Lock main chamber July 5 through Aug. 14, forcing detours through the auxiliary chamber. Repairs at Winfield Lock, scheduled July 10 through Sept. 15, are not expected to force significant travel delays, sources said.
On the Tennessee River, Kentucky Lock delays ran up to 26 hours. Low water levels on the Monongahela River reduced maximum barge drafts by 5% until further notice, sources said.