The water levels of the Mississippi River reached historic lows in the fall of 2022, causing barge traffic to slow and back up without deep enough water to navigate the river. Since then we have seen water levels rise but by how much?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been hard at work since last summer, dredging the Mississippi river to make deeper navigable passages that allow barge traffic to move more freely in certain trouble areas of the river. Fortunately dredging has not become as necessary with rising water levels says Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition Mike Steenhoek.
Waters levels on the river have bounced back but that doesn?t necessarily mean that the amount of tonnage moving on the river is back to pre-drought numbers says Steenhoek.
He says although the Mississippi River not moving as much grain and goods was a big part of the disrupted supply chain last year, it is not the only logistical trouble spot.
Steenhoek says that the supply chain issues of the past few years have put infrastructure shortcomings into the spotlight in the United States.
For more information visit http://www.soytransportation.org/
