It's no secret that the aging locks and dams on the U.S. river system are in desperate need of repair and or replacement. Each time locks go down for repair for any reason, commerce on the river is interrupted, causing extra costs for exporters if shipments are late out of the Gulf waiting for late barges to arrive.
According to The Progressive Farmer, in May 2018, the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) published a study called "Impact of Dredging the Lower Mississippi River to 50 Feet." The study notes that improving the draft of the lower Mississippi River from 45 feet to 50 feet would increase reliability of river navigation and reduce the impact of low water events.
According to the study, the impact of a deeper-draft lower Mississippi River will save $5 per metric ton in ocean freight as the average volume loaded increases from 66,000 metric tons to 78,000 metric tons.
Read the full report at The Progressive Farmer.
