Barge Work on the Mississippi River at Muscatine, Iowa

River commerce is alive and well on the Mississippi River. Barge traffic is quite common along this portion of the river at Muscatine, Iowa where grain and other terminals are located. Marquette Transportation Company's Jacob Michael Eckstein, an inland towboat positions a 15 barge array for the journey northward.

According the U.S. Coast Guard database, the Eckstein was once called the Seminole Princess. The vessel was built in 1984, is listed as 130 feet long and hails from St. Louis, MO. More data can be found here.

Mid-November Tug Traffic on the Mississippi River

On November 15th the temperatures along the Iowa - Wisconsin border were near 60F. Tugs and barges took advantage of the weather to move northward on the Mississippi River towards Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (upper left.)

A small tug pulled along side of the David L Griggs tug. Both vessels belong to the Marquette Transportation Company which operate from Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio River. David L Grigg's present location can be seen at this link.

The smaller tug detached from the Griggs, rotated and helped to push a formation of barges just outside of the frame.

Another tug was busy assembling the formation just north of the smaller tug and the DLG. This island, which is visible from Iowa's Pike Peak State Park is probably a staging area for barges as there is evidence of tie offs and signs.

Modern Day Tom Sawyer Drawn to the River

Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer lived along the Mississippi River in fiction a century and a half ago. Fast forward to 2013 and you can still see the how the river attracts youth to its banks. Fishing just feet from Lock & Dam 11 at Dubuque, Iowa this boy forgets about catching a catfish while focusing on Marquette Transportation's downbound barge and tow named, Show Me State. The barges contained covers, scrap metal and coal. Churn from the tow activates fish and lures nearby pelicans to feed.

Pere Marquette Guided Through Mississippi River's Lock & Dam 10

Last weekend the temperature and humidity level reached the same number in the mid-90s. Flash floods of northeast Iowa including the Mississippi River valley resulted in a three foot rise in the nation's waterway. As a result Lock & Dam Number 10 (at Guttenberg, Iowa) was opened to allow the swollen river to flow more quickly. On Sunday, Marquette Transportation's 4610 horsepowered Pere Marquette guided a six barg tow downriver towards the lock. 

A guide vessel met the Pere Marquette on the lock approach, positioned itself to the port side bow and helped the long assembly through the ungated portion of the lock system.

I have never seen this maneuver before and suspect it is a normal procedure for high water conditions. Otherwise the barges are disconnected, towed into the lock, water levels are drained, gates open and the barges are towed to a staging area while the tow returns for the other upriver barges. Its a long process to complete so I suspect the Pere Marquette's pilot was happy to save several hours of lock time by doing the go-around. Know that.