U.S. Gulf/River: Shippers reported no ice on the Illinois River as of Dec. 30, but a watch was underway, with Chicago-area temperatures hovering just above freezing. T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam reopened Dec. 23 following a period of extended main chamber maintenance, and sources reported operating delays of about an hour for the week. The lock will close again Jan. 21, 2015. The cutoff date for Chicago-bound releases out of New Orleans was Dec. 14.
Upper Mississippi River Lock 27 saw wait times of 2-4 hours, and transit through Lock 20 was delayed by about an hour. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 2014/15 rock removal project at Thebes, Ill., will commence when river levels at Cape Girardeau, Mo., drop to the 10-foot mark. The Corps’ plan is to run the operation through January, with an eye toward minimal navigational impacts. Locks 17 and 20 are slated to close for the navigation season on Jan. 5.
Healthy water levels on the Ohio River saw officials drop wickets at Lock 52, where wait times were about an hour. R.C. Byrd Lock saw similar waits. Main chamber maintenance at Belleview Lock is scheduled from Jan. 5-9. The lock’s auxiliary chamber will be offline Feb. 9-27.
A full river closure is expected at the Hulton Bridge replacement site on the Allegheny River, shippers warned. The 48-hour stoppage is set to begin at 7:00 a.m. on Jan. 7.
Ongoing equipment failure at Braddock Lock and Dam on the Monongahela River will keep that lock’s river chamber offline indefinitely. Minor delays are expected, though shippers said the land chamber will remain open to navigation.
“Major delays” are anticipated in February on the Kanawha River at Winfield Lock, where main chamber repairs are expected to last about a month. The Tennessee River’s Pickwick Lock auxiliary chamber, offline since Nov. 10, is projected to reopen Jan. 9.
In the Gulf area, shippers reported transit delays of 2-4 hours at Industrial Lock, and wait times of about an hour were experienced at Bayou Sorrel, Port Allen, and Algiers Locks. The Corps announced a postponement to the Bayou Sorrel Lock repair operation, pushing back the closure to July 2015. The project will last six weeks, and major delays are expected.