Corps closes river channel for quick dredging

After two tow boats and their barges ran aground Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River to commercial shipping traffic in an area just upriver from Red Wing.

The channel was reopened about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials with the St. Paul District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended that the river be closed because sediment buildup had caused the groundings.

Coast Guard officials then closed the shipping channel Monday from mile 801 to 807 about four miles upstream from Lock and Dam No. 3.

The Corps sent a contractor to the area and dredging began Monday. The contractor is using a backhoe mounted on a barge to dredge the material from the bottom of the river.

Tags: news, dredge, mississippi