Barge Accidents Shut Two Rivers
Two separate barge accidents halted navigation on the flood-swollen Mississippi and lower Ohio rivers on Friday, government officials said.
According to MANA, section of the Mississippi River was closed to navigation on Friday morning after nine grain barges broke free from a tow and struck lock and dam 22 near Saverton, Missouri, north of St. Louis, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
Separately, the Coast Guard has closed a four-mile (6-km)stretch of the lower Ohio river near Brookport, Illinois, on Thursday after a tow boat pushing 19 empty barges and one loaded with steel struck lock and dam 52 and began taking on water.
The vessel, owned by American Commercial Barge Line, had about 47,000 gallons of diesel on board, but no pollution has been reported, the Coast Guard said.