In the News

Winter has arrived on the uppermost part of the Mississippi River.

Chilling temperatures signaled its return, but so did an important annual ritual: the last barge heading downriver from the Twin Cities, bringing the 2024 shipping season to an end.

The motor vessel Ashley Danielson departed Lock and Dam 2 near Hastings, Minnesota on Monday at 11:48 a.m., according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District.

Barge traffic on the river's northern stretch halts each year until springtime because the river freezes over the winter.

This year, the shipping season began on March 17, when the motor vessel Joseph Patrick Eckstein broke through the ice of Lake Pepin and continued on to Hastings, pushing a dozen barges full of goods. Lake Pepin — the largest lake on the river — is regarded as the last major barrier for tows in spring because the river is wider there, causing the ice to take longer to break up, according to the Corps.

Sometimes called America's water superhighway, the Mississippi River plays a crucial role in transporting products through and out of the U.S. It carries around 500 million short tons per year of goods, including corn, soy, fertilizer, road salt, coal and petroleum products. Sixty percent of all grain exported from the U.S. is shipped on the river.

The infrastructure that makes navigation possible on the upper river is aging. A series of locks and dams that were installed between 1930 and 1940 guide tows from one section of river to the next. They have an estimated $1 billion backlog of maintenance costs, according to the Corps.

While the upper river is closed for shipping this winter, the Corps' St. Paul District will perform repairs on Lock and Dam 7, near La Crescent, Minnesota; Lock and Dam 9, near Lynxville, Wisconsin; Lock and Dam 2 near Hastings, Minnesota; and Locks and Dams 5 and 5a north of Winona, Minnesota.

Shipping on the lower river, largely unimpeded by ice, continues year-round.