Upper Mississippi River navigation season ends for the Twin Cities

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, locked the last tow of the season for the St. Paul, Minn., area today, Nov. 27.

The Motor Vessel Ginger Griffin New locked through Lock and Dam 2, near Hastings, Minn., this morning around 4 a.m., with two barges. Traditionally, the last tow heading south of Lock and Dam 2 has marked the unofficial end of the navigation season for the St. Paul District.

The navigation season started April 9 when the Motor Vessel Roberta Tabor broke through the ice in Lake Pepin en route to St. Paul. Minn. The Motor Vessel Show Me State was the last tow of the 2012 season, and she locked through Nov. 28.

"We successfully completed another navigation season on the Upper Mississippi River," said Bryan Peterson, St. Paul District locks and dams chief. "The staff at our 13 Locks and Dams did a great job ensuring that millions of tons of commodities and thousands of recreational craft were able to reach their destinations through our  Inland Marine Transportation System."

The Corps will continue managing the river during the navigation closure in order to maintain the 9-foot channel. All navigation tows will need to be south of Lock and Dam 8, near Genoa, Wis., by Dec. 2 due to the Corps closing the lock this winter to dewater it and perform maintenance on the infrastructure at the facility.

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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