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Video by Patrick Moes

USACE welcomes first tow of 2023 navigation season to St. Paul, Minnesota

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District

March 12, 2023 | 4:06

The Motor Vessel Phillip M Pfeffer with six barges is locked through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minnesota, March 12. The lockage marks the unofficial start to the 2023 navigation season.

The St. Paul District navigation program provides a safe, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation system on the Upper Mississippi River for the movement of commercial goods and for national security needs. To do this, the district maintains a 9-foot navigation channel and 13 locks and dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy. Nearly 13 million tons of commodities passed through Lock and Dam 10 in 2021. This included nearly 8.5 million tons of farm products such as corn and soybeans. The industries making these shipments saved approximately $430 million by using the inland waterways instead of overland shipping methods.