The Motor Vessel Neil N. Diehl locks through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minnesota, March 19, with nine barges. Reaching St. Paul marks the unofficial start to the navigation season because it’s the last port on the Upper Mississippi River to open every year.
The St. Paul District maintains the 9-foot-deep navigation channel and operates 12 locks and dams to support navigation from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa.
Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy. A 15-barge tow is the equivalent to more than 1,000 semi-trailers or 200 rail cars. One barge can carry more than 50,000 bushels of wheat, or enough to make around 2.1 million loaves of bread. A barge filled with 50,000 bushels of corn can produce around 1.3 million boxes of cereal.
| Date Taken: | 03.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.20.2025 09:38 |
| Photo ID: | 8926125 |
| VIRIN: | 250319-A-A1415-1009 |
| Resolution: | 4000x1848 |
| Size: | 1.79 MB |
| Location: | ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, First tow of 2025 season reaches Mississippi River head of navigation, by Patrick Moes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
