Fair Landing, Arkansas, Nov. 11, 2014 - Vicksburg Video of Northbound tow passing the Corps' Mat Sinking Unit yesterday afternoon.
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The delay time per tow is currently trending downward and as of today the channel is 500 feet-wide (the authorized channel is 300 feet). The wider channel will allow larger tows to pass Northbound, further reducing the impact to navigation at the site.
Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr, Mississippi Valley Division Commander, said the USACE team will continue close collaboration with industry leaders to determine the best course of action for the remaining revetment sites. He added the collaboration will keep commerce moving on the Mississippi River during this busy shipping season.
Each morning, the tow traffic queue is clearing the work area before Mat Sinking Operations begin and currently, the size of the traffic queue is trending downward. There will be at least 500 feet of channel width available today and pilots may run a 30-40 barge northbound test tow. Corps, Coast Guard and industry leaders are also reviewing the traffic queue management system results to keep commerce moving while critical repairs are completed.
The Corps is executing the Nation's annual bank protection program on the Lower Mississippi River. The program involves repairing damaged river banks and protecting them for navigation, flood control and flood risk reduction purposes. As is normal, there are areas along the river that become narrow during low water and can require traffic restrictions when conducting operations to repair damaged river banks.
Once the revetment work and the scheduled bendway weir construction at this site is completed, what was once a bend where passing was very restricted (one-way), will become a bend where two-way traffic is able to transit.
Release no. 14-017