Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP
Water transportation on two of the world’s longest river systems have been disrupted by extremes in water levels. On the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers record flooding has disrupted or halted barge traffic while on China’s Yangtze River a record drought has snarled traffic. The flooding on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers is the worst since 1937 while the river levels on the Yangtze have reached 50 year lows.
Swollen Mississippi, Ohio rivers halt barge traffic
The surging waters of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers have sidelined river shipping in the central U.S.
That condition is on full display on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, which can’t access the Ohio River and the rest of the country because of lock closures at Kentucky Lake and Smithland, Ky., and additional problems downstream.
“The river system is effectively shut down. I have never seen an instance where everything gets completely shut down.”
In Cincinnati, high waters aren’t allowing many boats to fit underneath bridges.
The confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers at Cairo, Ill., is closed to river traffic for at least another week. Shipping isn’t allowed past Caruthersville, Mo., because of fears that boat wakes could top levees.
Backwater flooding on the Arkansas River has that marine highway closed. Such problems will gradually roll south with the high water as it moves toward the Gulf of Mexico.
The situation is wreaking havoc on the $5 billion barge industry and its customers. It’s a disaster for steel mills hungry for scrap deliveries, for example, and putting upward pressure on prices for the numerous commodities shipped by barge.
Shipping in crisis as water levels plunge
Authorities are rushing to clear snarled shipping traffic and prevent accidents along the drought-stricken Yangtze River, a key route to fast-growing markets in inland China.
Several sections of the drought-stricken Yangtze River, China’s longest waterway, may pose dangers for shipping traffic, the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Maritime Safety Administration said on Friday.
The water level of the Yangtze River has dropped sharply since February, with its middle reaches falling to levels not seen in 50 years. In addition, the water level near the river’s Three Gorges Dam is at five-year low.
Thnaks to Phil Leon for passing article along.