US Gulf:
Draft restrictions continued above New Orleans due to low water levels on the Lower Mississippi River.
Guidewall repairs at Bayou Sorrel Lock will limit daytime movements through Oct. 30, with delays topping out around the 22-hour mark. Brazos Lock repairs projected to continue through the end of October halted weekday travel from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wait times were noted up to 17 hours, down from a maximum 57 hours reported last week.
Harvey Lock remained offline due to reverse head conditions. No tows have locked through the site since Aug. 27, according to Corps data.
Port Allen Lock delays were quoted up to 17.5 hours during the week, while wait times at Industrial Lock registered as high as 17 hours. Intermittent 5-13 hour waits were reported at Algiers Lock, and tows passing Colorado Lock saw occasional 5-10 hour delays.
Mississippi River:
Towing restrictions persisted on the lower river due to reduced water levels. Northbound tows saw loading drafts rolled back by 20-25%, while southbound drafts were reduced by 15-20%, depending on location. Tow lengths were cut by 5-16 barges, depending on location and vessel horsepower, up from 5-10 barges at last report. Delivery times were delayed by an estimated 24-72 hours as a result.
Rains from last week’s Hurricane Francine temporarily pushed the gauge at Vicksburg, Miss., to 6.1 feet on Sept. 19, though river levels were expected to recede to 3.6 feet by Oct. 3. The St. Louis gauge was reported at (-)0.7 feet and falling at midweek, while levels at Memphis were noted at (-)6.9 feet and moving lower on Sept. 19. Memphis was expected to drop to (-)9.4 feet by the first week of October.
Dredging reported at Miles 952, 785, and 485 on the lower river triggered intermittent navigational pauses, sources said, while dredging at Mile 541 was expected to necessitate rolling 24-hour closures.
A mat-laying operation at Mile 759 relocated to Mile 775 on Sept. 18. A pipeline removal project in progress through Sept. 24 was not expected to force travel shutdowns, though channel restrictions could limit navigation while the effort is underway.
Barges loading from NOLA for upper-river ports are largely scheduled to begin final releases in October, sources said. Many tows slated to unload between Dubuque, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minn., will see final departures during the first week of October, while tows destined between St. Louis and Clinton, Iowa., will release from NOLA as late as the third week of October. Upper-river locks are scheduled to close for the winter navigation season between December and March 2025.
Illinois River:
Maximum loading drafts on the Illinois River were reduced to 9.25 feet for Miles 1-231 and 9.0 feet above Mile 231 due to low water levels. Lockport Lock is projected to shut completely on Jan. 14-March 11, 2025, for vertical lift gate installation, blocking movements to and from Chicago, Ill.
Ohio River:
Loading drafts continued at a maximum 10 feet for both northbound and southbound travel on the Ohio River during the week. Tow lengths were limited to 15 barges for the full length of the river.
Travel through the main chamber at Markland Lock is unavailable for 19 hours daily through Oct. 30, forcing detours through the auxiliary chamber. Wait times were posted up to 20.5 hours during the week, rising from 16.5 hours at last report.
The main chamber at Hannibal Lock is closed for miter gate repairs through Nov. 8, triggering waits up to 20 hours, up from the 18 hours reported last week. McAlpine Lock is shut to downriver travel from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 30. Belleville Lock will see 30-day main and auxiliary chamber shutdowns before the end of the year, sources said.
Delays ran up to 67 hours at the Tennessee River’s Kentucky Lock during the week, up from 16 hours noted previously. Intermittent 6-16 hours were reported at Wilson Lock.