Barges prepare to move coal down Miss. River again after repairs

Washington (Platts)--7Mar2006

A sure sign of spring, barges loaded with coal and other materials are
expected to start moving along the Mississippi River next week.

Three locks, which have been undergoing rehabilitation work this winter, are
slated to reopen March 15, allowing travel along the entire Mississippi again.

Lock 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin, closed December 5 for rehabilitation, Peter
Verstegen, a spokesman for the US Army Corps of Engineers' St. Paul,
Minnesota, district told Platts Monday. 

The Corps has been installing bulkhead slots in the lock chamber. 

Lock 11 at Dubuque, Iowa, and Lock 19 at Keokuk, Iowa, have been closed since
December 15, Justine Barati, a spokeswoman Army Corps of Engineers' Rock
Island District, told Platts Monday. 

Rehabilitiation at Lock 11 included resurfacing the lock chamber, repairing
concrete on the upper and lower guidewalls, replacing the lock machinery,
installing new downstream bulkhead slots, and replacing the lock's electrical
systems, Barati said. 

Lock 19 has also been undergoing rehabilitation, spokesman Mark Kane said.
Work there included replacing bulkheads, replacing an old gear system that
operated the gates with a hydraulic system and installing new switchboxes and
other equipment lockmen use, he said.

While the Corps traditionally waits until December to shut down locks for
maintenance, shipping continued between the locks all winter long, Kane said.

"If someone can get up here, we'll lock them through," he said. "This year we
had an early start to the season as far as ice and snow," are concerned.

Coal, sand and gravel have already been shipped through Lock 15 in the Quad
Cities, according to park ranger Don Bardole. But they could only travel
between locks 12 and 18 because of the complete closures of locks 11 and 19.

-- Mark E. Heckathorn, mark_heckathorn@platts.com

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