Navigation on Mississippi has worsened for decades
Christian Fernsby ▼ | November 19, 2023
Shifting water levels have driven a significant decline in navigation conditions in recent decades along the Mississippi River, a primary engine of commerce in the United States, research from the federal government and Princeton University shows.Article continues below
The researchers examined changing water levels along the 2,300-mile waterway from 1963 to 2020 and evaluated the impact on commercial shipping along the river.
Low water in the shipping channel sometimes strands traffic in sections of the river, while high water levels have forced operators to close locks and restrict shipping capacity to reflect more difficult conditions for tugs pushing massive collections of river barges.
Although low water often provides more dramatic images, the researchers found that high water levels have had significantly more impact, particularly on sections of the river south of St. Louis.
By measuring periods in which authorities imposed navigation restrictions each year, the researchers concluded that the upper Mississippi has lost about 24 good days' worth of shipping in an average year when comparing conditions at the beginning and end of the study period.
"I was as surprised as everyone else," said Gabriele Villarini, the corresponding author and a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton.
The researchers said between 2015 and 2019 river traffic carried a yearly average of 400 million tons of goods, peaking at 500 million tons in 2017 and 2018.
The Mississippi carries 92% of U.S. agricultural exports and 78% of world exports in feed grain and soybeans. River traffic is extremely efficient—an average 15 barge tow has the same capacity as 1,050 large semi truck trailers, the researchers said. ■ What to read next
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