Dredging the Upper Mississippi
The Infrastructure Show - "The Importance of Dredging to Transportation on the Upper Mississippi River"
Persistent flooding in the upper Midwest poses risks to navigation on the Upper Mississippi River. Erosion and sedimentation are reducing channel depths and creating sandbars that block or reduce the capacity of barge tows carrying agricultural and other bulk products. This puts extra demand on channel dredging, which is the responsibility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
To understand both the problems and responses, we talk with Steve Tapp, Operations Manager in charge of dredging and channel maintenance for the St. Paul District of the Army Corps.