The Mississippi River is one of the busiest waterways in the United States. Of its 4,267 miles of navigable channels (1/3 of U.S. inland waterways) 681 million tons of cargo move on the system each year with transportation cost savings of $12.5 billion.
“Maintaining and protecting the Mississippi River and other deep draft waterways is one of our key missions – and this is why our Dredge Hurley team is working as hard as they are,” USACE Memphis District said.
Most recently, the Hurley departed Beckwith (RM 925) on Oct. 19, arrived at their destination, Redman Bar, on Oct. 20, and immediately started dredging.
“Getting things done is what the Hurley team is all about – and they proved it at Redman Bar once again, as the channel was reopened on Saturday, Oct. 22, just two days after the Hurley arrived,” said USACE.
“They’re still dredging Redman Bar, outside of channel, as we currently have two locations (742 and 744) in this reach that (in conjunction with USCG) we were able to buoy around.”
Once these shoaling areas are dredged, Redman Bar will be about 850 feet wide through the reach river mile 740 – 744.