US Army Corps of Engineers Works to Avert Crisis on Mississippi River

December 19, 2012

Since July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working around the clock to keep the Mississippi River open to barge traffic crucial to the U.S. economy. The Corps is racing against time -- digging out shallow spots as the Mississippi River recedes toward historically low levels.

It is a familiar routine for the crew members of the Dredge Potter, making their way along the Mississippi River to the growing number of shallow trouble spots and digging in.

“The Potter has been working since July, and it’s now December,” said Lance Engle, from the Army Corps of Engineers.

That workload is due to the continuing drought in the central United States that has dried up the Mississippi River basin.

Engle says the Potter's three crews are dredging around-the-clock to keep the river open, and they are not being helped by Mother Nature.

“We are dredging priority locations, and just keeping up with the falling river forecast to maintain navigation,” Engle said.

The Potter scoops sediment off the bottom of the river, and transports it through a pipeline system out the other side at a rate of about 280,000 liters per minute.

“It is essentially a suction dredge, where we suck up the sandy river bottom and deposit it outside the river channel,” Engle said.