Mississippi River sets 11′6″ draft, seven-wide tow rules

We can not express the importance of the Mississippi River in the United States’ economy. For generations, the Mississippi has connected several regions in the United States, enabling exponential growth across several sectors that are crucial to the United States. However, climate change has reared its ugly head to pose a significant threat to the operations on the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers has been hard at work digging a dredge in the river, allowing for larger barges and heavier tow limitations. But following an exceedingly dry August, new restrictions on barge size and tow limitations have been announced.

The United States Coast Guard has warned of potential issues in the Mississippi River

The new limitations are supposed to allow the safe passage of any ships passing through the Mississippi River. However, the impact of those new restrictions may have an adverse effect on the local economy and the American economy as a whole.

When the Army Corps of Engineers came on site, the local authorities were instructed to implement new restrictions. And the new 11′6″ draft, seven-wide tow rules have slowed down the transportation of crucial commodities for the American economy.

At the beginning of September, the river gauge at Memphis, Tennessee, fell below 0 feet for the first time since February, but was still exceedingly higher than the levels experienced during the same period last year.

The US Coast Guard implemented the new restrictions on 2 September of this year

The United States Coast Guard is not to be toyed with, and when it became clear that the water levels in the Mississippi River were lower than expected, they implemented the new restrictions while they work on the issue.

The new restrictions for the Lower Mississippi are as follows:

• Southbound traffic: draft levels may not exceed 11.5 feet, and tows may not be more than 7 barges wide.
• Northbound traffic: draft levels may not exceed 11 feet, and tows may not be more than 5-6 barges wide (depending on the load size) and 7 barges long.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has added to the woes in the Mississippi River

The National Weather Service has delivered some worrying news for any companies aiming to move their products through the channel in the Lower Mississippi River. They state that the forecast for the upcoming weeks predicts even less precipitation. 

The Mid-South and Ohio River Valley feed the Mississippi River, and if the current dry weather forecast is correct, the region could experience significantly less rainfall in the coming weeks. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has stated that by September 18, the river gauge at Memphis is expected to drop to −4.8 feet (the low-water threshold).

The inevitable effects of climate change have begun to affect operations across several regions in the United States energy sector. The environmental impact of the energy sector in the United States may have a counterproductive effect on the ability to produce energy resources at an acceptable rate.

How will the new executive orders from the Donald Trump administration affect the energy sector

One hopes that the effect on the energy sector by the Trump administration’s new stance towards he energy sector will be minimal. The midstream sector in the United States faces new and unexpected problems, which are a direct result of the poor economy and rising costs being experienced across several sectors worldwide. One suspects the experts in the Army Corps of Engineers will come up with a temporary solution to the low water levels in the Mississippi River; if not, even tighter restrictions can be expected from the US Coast Guard, especially if no rain is expected in the weeks to come.