The US Army Corps of Engineers has allocated funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law for long-awaited upgrades to locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River system. “As we know, time is money,” says Mike Steenhoek with the Soy Transportation Coalition. He tells Brownfield one of the most important projects for agriculture is on the list – building a second, larger channel at Lock and Dam 25 near Winfield, Missouri.
“When you have a 12-hundred-foot long lock chamber, you can have that entire 15-barge flotilla go through that chamber in one lockage and that whole process will only take 30 to 45 minutes.” Now, he says, a 15-barge flotilla has to be broken in two to pass through Lock and Dam 25, taking at least two hours.
