BARGE BUSINESS IN PERIL

Corps to consider closing Missouri River traffic this year

It’s hard to imagine the Missouri River without tugboats pushing barges between the sandbars.

Since the days of the French-Canadian fur trade, commerce along the Missouri River has played a role in developing ports like Rocheport and Lohman’s Landing, which developed into Jefferson City.

Steamboat traffic was well under way when the city was chosen as the new state capital in 1826, linking isolated port towns to St. Louis and beyond, and by the mid-1800s the Big Muddy was frequently hazardous because the channels were busy with traffic.

Traffic tapered off with the rise of railroads and highways, although Congress decided to give shipping a fighting chance in 1945 by deepening the river’s entire channel.

The new depth did boost barge traffic, but droughts over the past decade have rendered the Missouri a second-class citizen to rail lines and interstate highways.

This past year, the navigation season on the Missouri River was shortened by 48 days due to droughts along the upper river basin. Depleted upriver reservoirs, vital to keeping the river open for commercial use, were deemed inadequate for a full navigation season. As a result, in 2006 the amount of material transported on the river was the lowest in 55 years.

On March 15, the U.S. Corps of Engineers will assess Missouri River reservoir levels in Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota and then decide the fate of the river’s 2007 navigation season.

If the water is too low, the shipping season could be shortened or canceled.
A full navigation season goes from April 1 to Dec. 1. An entire navigation season usually depends on the corps’s plan after the initial decision. A second check of reservoir levels will be done on July 1, when adjustments to the navigational plan of the river can be made if needed.

Bob Cox, port captain of the Jefferson City River Terminal, hopes that the corps will deliver good news to the navigational and industrial communities that rely on the Missouri River for a cheap mode of produce transportation.

“We’re hoping to hear that the snow packs and the moisture from upstream, from the dam [Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border], will be better, or like a normal year, in those areas,” Cox said. “If you don’t have the plentiful water storage behind those reservoirs, the corps won’t release much support water that supports navigation and boat traffic.”

Agricultural products, concrete, asphalt and other industrial materials routinely are transported along the river through central Missouri. Barge traffic is essential for many businesses in central Missouri and is useful for the entire Missouri River region, to keep costs down on their products.
Norb Luebbering, president of Cole County Industries, is concerned that limiting navigation could slow cement shipments to his business.

“It’s up to the river terminal to get it to us, whether it be by the river or on trucks,” he said. “But if the stream is closed, timing may not be as accurate as when the stream is open.”

Darryl Winegar, vice president of Midwest Block & Brick, located in Columbia and Jefferson City, said a suspension of the shipping season would affect the way the company ships and receives materials. If revenue is persistently lost due to sub-par shipping conditions on the river, jobs may have to be cut.

“Using a truck will cost us 20 to 30 percent more” than using barges on the river, he said. “We can’t pass the price increase onto our customers, so it comes out of our pocket. That hurts.”

Paul Johnston, spokesman for the Corps of Engineers’ northwestern division, said the agency managers understand that they have various interests to balance when making decisions regarding the river.

“The river needs to supply drinking water levels, recreational uses, utility demands,” he said. “There are lots of demands here on a limited resource.”

While many want a say in the matter, Johnston said, the corps tries to stay objective and do what’s best for the river.

“Everybody is looking out for their own interests,” he said. “We hear from navigators, utility companies, electric co-ops—all users are taking a hit.”

Struggles between upriver and downriver demands also put a strain on the balancing act the corps must attempt to perform.

“Navigation on lower river areas is a common complaint from those upstream,” Johnston said. “[Upstream] they look at the declining tonnage amount being moved on the river and wonder why they have to sacrifice their reservoirs for declining business [downstream].”

Johnston said the interests of central Missouri and the rest of the state are well represented when concerns are voiced to the corps.

“We hear from trade associations a lot, we hear from the state of Missouri,” he said. “They understand our situation, but they want a more predictable channel so they can rate contracts early in order to move goods later in the year.”

“When we have full support water for navigation, we’re able to load barges out of this facility [in Jefferson City],” Cox said. “Businesses can move their product for less money on the barges rather than hauling it out by truck to the different markets.”

A channel that is nine feet deep and 300 feet wide is considered an authorized, fully functional channel for Missouri River barge traffic. Currently, due to the past several years of drought, dimensions eight feet deep and 200 feet wide are the temporary standard.

Cox said at that standard, a single barge can carry up to 1,200 tons of material. It would take approximately 50 tractor-trailer loads to carry the same amount.

“With a six barge tow, we can bring in 300 truck loads per toll through Jefferson City, so that in turn saves transportation costs instead of sending trucks to do the same job,” he said. “Navigation is environmentally friendly, as far as the exhaust from engines. You can imagine the limited boat fumes compared to 300 trucks going through.”

Mike Wells, deputy director of water resources at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said he is aware of the impact a shortened or unreliable navigation season can have on local businesses.

“A lot will happen in the next two months,” he said. “Contractors want to decide contracts as soon as possible, but uncertainty with barges and tows can cause them to go with trucks or rail transportation.”

Nevertheless, Wells is still optimistic about the river’s possibilities in 2007.

“The navigation industry is important to the state,” he said. “It saves energy; it reduces air pollution. We’re doing what we can to encourage businesses to stay with the river.”