Posted on 12/17/2012 4:28:12 PM PST by Uncle Chip
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Barge operators along a key stretch of the Mississippi River braced Monday for months of restricted shipping as crews prepared to begin blasting large rock formations that are impeding navigation on the drought-plagued waterway.
Contractors from Iowa and Ohio could begin drilling holes into the troublesome Mississippi River bedrock south of St. Louis and detonating explosives inserted inside as early as Tuesday, the Army Corps of Engineers said. They expect to remove enough rock to fill about 50 dump trucks, possibly more.
The demolition of the massive formations near Thebes, Ill., coincides with an unusual move by the agency to release water from a southern Illinois lake, adding a few inches of depth to a river that is getting lower by the day — largely because of the lingering effects of the nation's worst drought in decades.
The corps said a six-mile stretch of the river will be closed to shipping starting Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. to allow for the safe use of the explosives. Barges seeking passage will have to line up and wait for an eight-hour window when that stretch will be open, with the Coast Guard essentially acting as a flagman, letting barges through in one direction, then the other.
The project was initially to have begun in February but was expedited at the behest of U.S. lawmakers from Mississippi River states. Mike Petersen, a corps spokesman in St. Louis, said the agency was confident it could complete the project by the end of March. The rock being removed typically would be beneath sand on the river bottom but has been exposed by the corps' dredging efforts to keep the channel open.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I am by no means an expert, but is that a good idea? Couldn’t that cause other problems when water is abundant?
I'm not an expert either, but I wouldn't think so. I suppose an insignificant increase in velocity might be possible.
I hope they know what they’re doing. There are aquifers under the river that provide clean water to towns along it.
Where is the EPA and environmentalists in all this. Altering the environment? This is the type of thing they prevent private property owners from doing
Could that trigger an earthquake?
Could that trigger an earthquake?
Pollution is a political term, not a scientific one.
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