Corps of Engineers releases Lock and Dam 1 statistics for 2013 navigation season

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, released the navigation statistics for the 2013 navigation season at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis today, Dec. 11. 

The Corps’ Lock and Dam 1 staff supported 1,543 lockages during the season to include 661 commercial navigation lockages. The commercial tows transported 827,150 tons of commodities. Around 31,800 large semi trucks would be needed to haul the same amount of tonnage. During the 2012 navigation season, there were 731 commercial lockages, and the commercial tows transported 816,430 tons of commodities.

In addition to the commercial lockages, the lock staff supported 1,384 recreation vessels during 864 recreation lockages. To minimize lockages, the Corps of Engineers tries to include multiple recreation vessels during a single lockage. There were an additional 18 lockages at the lock from various government agencies to include the Corps of Engineers.

The lock was closed three separate times during the season due to high flows – twice in May and once in early July.

The first commercial tow lockage of the season for Lock and Dam 1 was the Motor Vessel Patrick Gannaway April 18. The last lock of the season was the Motor Vessel Becky Sue Nov. 24.

In 2012, 13.5 million tons of commodities were shipped on the Mississippi River with the St. Paul District’s area of operation, including 7 million tons of grain grown in the Upper Midwest. The industries making these shipments saved nearly $288 million by using the inland waterways instead of overland shipping methods.

The nearly 700 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2011 $175 million budget, nearly 2,800 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $271 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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