Memphis bridges designed for ‘barge impact’
There are a litany of things that can cause a ship or barge to collide with a bridge, with “Mother Nature being a primary one,” according to a waterways management chief with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Topic: Mississippi River
RSSThere are 75 article(s) tagged Mississippi River:
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March 2024
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December 2023
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As climate risks increase, Mississippi River towns look to each other for solutions
The past few years have brought wild fluctuations between flooding and drought, bringing more stress to the communities nestled along the Mississippi’s 2,350 miles.
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Nonstop dredging kept the Mississippi River open this year
But moving mountains of sand during historic low water levels creates its own problems.
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The Mississippi River is central to America’s story. Why doesn’t it get more love?
The Mississippi River is a big deal. One of the world’s great rivers, it hosts an abundance of wildlife habitat and provides drinking water for almost 20 million people. But it seems to carry less reverence than other iconic water bodies across the country.
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Climate report indicates dire future for Mississippi River basin
Within the contiguous U.S., temperatures have risen by 2.5°F since 1970, compared to a global average rise of about 1.7°F over the same period.
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November 2023
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Mississippi River drought expected to last through winter
Since June, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent $38 million maintaining the Mississippi River channel, mostly through dredging the equivalent of 5,000 Olympic-sized pools of sediment.
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Mississippi River plummeted to most extreme lows in recent decades
After the Mississippi River hit another new low, NASA released images of the river in 2021 and how it looked this past September, showing the change in the Mighty Mississippi.
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With the Mighty Mississippi at a low, Memphis’ cruise ships turn to buses
Memphis has bet on the Mississippi River cruise industry and its tourism dollars, but as the river hits record lows, cruise operators and the city prepare for an uncertain future.
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October 2023
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Sheriff’s office asks for help identifying woman found on barge
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help with what it called a “very unusual investigation” after a woman’s body was found on a barge in the Mississippi River.
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Mississippi River hits new low in Memphis, breaks last month’s record
Even as the Corps was still confirming data from September’s record low, it registered a new reading Tuesday that was even lower.
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Mississippi River breaks last year’s record low
Preliminary data shows the Mississippi River’s level at Memphis likely hit a new all-time low in mid-September.
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September 2023
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Mississippi River levels swing between historic highs and lows, causing shipping delays
Shippers are being told to expect up to three-day delays, and rates have doubled for barges leaving from Memphis and St. Louis compared to the three-year average.
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Mississippi River mayors rally for a compact to protect the waterway
“One of the first questions is going to be: if this water is essential to prosperity and growth, whose? Should it be those who dream about it in dry places, or those who are next to it?”
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The Mississippi River brought low by drought — again
The National Weather Service at Memphis expects the river to approach, or maybe surpass, last year’s record low by the end of the month.
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July 2023
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Burgeoning Mississippi riverboat industry faces more drought, flooding
As demand for overnight river cruises on the Mississippi increases, the industry also faces increasing climate threats. Recent years have seen wild swings between heavy rainfall and severe drought, making the river tougher to navigate.
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With cruises bringing affluent travelers to town, Memphis looks to the river
With the return of river travel, three companies are currently offering overnight cruises on the Mississippi while nearby cities look to cash in.
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History is huge draw for Mississippi River tourists. But whose history?
Overnight cruises returned to the Mississippi River a decade ago, and many passengers say the river’s storied past is part of the draw. But what history do they learn, and how?
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June 2023
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Does the Mississippi River have rights?
The Great Plains Action Society’s Walk for River Rights was the centerpiece of a three-day summit last month for organizers from in the Mississippi River basin, who, among other things, want to grant the river legal standing.
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May 2023
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Mississippi River shipping infrastructure is aging. Who should pay for the repairs?
Traffic is increasing, and the locks and dams have aged far past their life expectancy. They slow barges down, and shippers and commodity groups fear a breakdown on the horizon.
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Army Corps replaces 75-year-old river grader with 1 million pound machine
The new $22.5 million grader, delivered to its home port at Ensley Engineering Yard in Memphis in April, will service more than 950 miles of the lower Mississippi River, from Cairo, Illinois, to the gulf.
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March 2023
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College students pick up 75,000 pounds of trash from McKellar Lake
College students from nearly a dozen universities removed 75,000 pounds of trash from McKellar Lake in the past three weeks, intercepting it before it entered the Mississippi River.
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Three projects to prevent another 2011 flood move forward
Shelby County received $60 million for climate resilience projects in 2016 and work is ongoing in Raleigh, Frayser and Millington. A project along South Cypress Creek is just beginning.
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Mississippi River mayors eye federal funds to fight effects of climate change
Wetland depletion along the Mississippi River has left the region “exposed to disasters that would normally be absorbed by wetland capabilities,” the mayors said in their policy proposal.
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February 2023
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Sprawling $50M Mississippi River restoration project proposed
The Army Corps is looking at a $50 million, 6,000-acre and 39-mile ecosystem restoration project beginning near Memphis.
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As pollution from Ohio train wreck heads downstream, communities wonder about their water
A plume of chemical contaminants is traveling along the Ohio River at about one mile per hour and will eventually enter the Mississippi River.
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