(Reuters circulated the following story by Lisa Shumaker on July 2.)
CHICAGO — The upper Mississippi River is expected to fully reopen no later than July 8 after being closed for nearly a month due to the worst flooding in the U.S. Midwest in 15 years, said U.S. grain traders on Wednesday.
For barges to move freely on the most important U.S. commercial waterway, several locks must reopen and a railroad drawbridge must be repaired that spans Louisiana, Missouri, and Pike County, Illinois.
Lock 20 near Canton, Missouri, is expected to be the final lock and dam to reopen, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Four other locks remained closed on Wednesday but were expected to reopen on Thursday and Friday.
Lock 20 sits at a lower elevation than the other locks, the Corps of Engineers said.
Kansas City Southern must also repair the Louisiana Railroad Bridge that sits above Lock 24.
The bridge reopened to rail traffic on July 1. However, flood waters must recede further to begin repairs to make it safe to operate as a drawbridge for marine traffic, said C. Doniele Kane, spokeswoman for the railroad.
“It is anticipated that this maintenance can begin as early as tomorrow evening, and could be completed within a few days, depending on the level of damage inflicted by the flood water,” Kane said in an e-mail.
At the height of the flooding, 300 miles of the Mississippi River were closed to barge traffic, disrupting shipments of grain, coal and petroleum products since June 12.
The Mississippi River is the main channel for grain flowing from production areas in the Midwest to the export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico. Between 55 and 65 percent of all U.S. corn, soybean and wheat exports leave from there.
The flooding has caused billions of dollars in damages and wiped out millions of acres of corn and soybeans, sending grain prices to new highs in recent weeks.