The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it has ended the Mississippi River dredging operations.
Mike Petersen, the Corps of Engineers spokesman , stated: “We’re basically at a point now that we’re confident, with the rain we’ve had, that we have the channel we need to get through the winter. We’ve had them out there for a long time and it’s time to get (the dredges) in for some maintenance. ”
The Army Corps dredging vessels have already removed about 8 million cubic yards of sediment from the river channel to try to keep barges moving, reports stripes.com.
The dredging program on the Middle Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., has been ongoing since early July 2012 to preserve the channel, as well as continued surveys and channel patrols by the Corps and Coast Guard to keep commerce safely moving on the middle Mississippi River.
The Mississippi River should start to fall again and reach the normal level by Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
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Dredging Today Staff, February 6, 2013