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Barges stranded as Mississippi River water levels reach critical low
- Thread starter krellmk
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- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
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- 14,293
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- Independence, MO
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- I'm the Red Knight, by grant of the Black
I grew up on the Mississippi and spent as much time as I could on the water. I was a true "river rat". I got to know every "wing dam" and rocky jut there was in the 10 mile area I called home, where the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers come together. Barge traffic has always been a huge part of US commerce. The tugs are restricted to an oftentimes very narrow band in the main channel. I lived to fish, water ski, duck hunt and explore the backwaters, which I knew like the back of my hand. My history with the river goes back almost 65 years. The current state of the river is scary. I have never seen the low water level even close to what it is today. The barges have to "short load" in order to make passage, and the sweet spot in the main channel is really narrow and getting worse because of the lack of water. Today, the wing dams are above water, making areas impassable, it's unbelievable. There are areas of the river that are as deep as 200 feet, but only a few. That's where the 80-pound catfish live!
A common load back when I was growing up was two fathoms, about 12 feet of displacement. If you recall the writings of Samuel Clemens, he used the pen name "Mark Twain". Twain is the river term for two, and mark twain means that the barge is drawing 2 fathoms, or 12 feet. It is very interesting to be close (and skiing, we often got to close) to a row of double barges coming, then returning, and the height difference. The old standard full load was "mark twain" (mark two fathoms) but that is often only 6, and at most 9 feet today. That is a lot of capacity lost. It makes me sick to see the river that low. For commerce, it is comparable to pulling only 28' semi-trailers, hard to justify.
Hunting, fishing, boating, waterfowl nesting are all severely affected. Hard to watch. The river was one of my first true loves.
A common load back when I was growing up was two fathoms, about 12 feet of displacement. If you recall the writings of Samuel Clemens, he used the pen name "Mark Twain". Twain is the river term for two, and mark twain means that the barge is drawing 2 fathoms, or 12 feet. It is very interesting to be close (and skiing, we often got to close) to a row of double barges coming, then returning, and the height difference. The old standard full load was "mark twain" (mark two fathoms) but that is often only 6, and at most 9 feet today. That is a lot of capacity lost. It makes me sick to see the river that low. For commerce, it is comparable to pulling only 28' semi-trailers, hard to justify.
Hunting, fishing, boating, waterfowl nesting are all severely affected. Hard to watch. The river was one of my first true loves.