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[WRE ADVISOR | BUSINESS]


Barges transit the Mississippi River near St. Louis, MO on Dec. 05, 2012.


Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.


threats of halting shipping between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois even as little as a week before the report, the weather – along with the brisk removal of underwater rock – was predicted to keep river shipping fl owing until mid-February when the change of seasons traditionally causes a rise in river levels. After all the nail-biting regarding shipping on the river in January, the Coast Guard relaxed rigid draft restrictions well before the January 15th “D-Day.” Of course, there was good reason to be worried, and the welcome news about a swiftly rising river didn’t make the Mississippi River shipping industry look like worry warts as much as it underlined how unpredictable the river has become. Of course, investment and industry count on predictability. Lt. Colin Fogarty is a public aff airs offi cer for the Coast Guard’s


upper Mississippi River sector north of Cairo. T e Reuters article quoted him saying, “T e forecasts are looking good. It doesn’t look like we’re going to hit those two thresholds of a minus-six feet in St. Louis and T ebes.” Such low gauge readings at those two locations would have required even stricter draft regulations instead of the unexpected easing. Hoosier Ag Today is an Indiana agricultural communications company that delivers time-critical information to farmers, rural communities and even commodities investors via local area radio stations and the internet. T ey were keeping a close eye on the river


in January and their January 16 report also cited both rain relief as well as rock removal for keeping the boats afl oat. T e report mentions that the Army Corp of Engineers had fi nished the fi rst round of a rock removal project at T ebes, IL, subtracting 365 cubic yards of limestone from the channel, creating two full feet of navigable depth. In addition, rains in the area had been heavier and more widespread than previously predicted. Water levels at St. Louis hit a one-month high in January and the level at T ebes surged a full nine feet higher over the weekend of January 12 and 13. However, just as the industry started to breathe a sigh of


relief, Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski reported on Accuweather.com that while levels on the lower Mississippi were up, those on the upper Mississippi appeared to have only experienced a bump and not the long-term relief the industry was hoping for. Sosnowski explained that rains and thaws had helped to push the Ohio river to fl ood levels and that when the waterway met the Mississippi at Cairo that it would lead to high levels through Memphis, Tennessee to Vicksburg, Mississippi and, fi nally, to New Orleans. Although modest rises were recorded in the Illinois River and other tributaries, the Mississippi between Cairo and Saint Louis seemed to be stuck in a continuing fall with little relief in sight according to Sosnowski. T e record low Mississippi River level in St. Louis is 6.2 feet and the Accuweather


WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE MARCH-APRIL 2013 77


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