The St. Paul Engineer District announced March 20 that the first tow of the 2025 navigation season arrived in St. Paul, Minn. The M/V Neil N. Diehl, an Ingram Barge towboat, locked
Ingram's M/V Neil N. Diehl towboat locks through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minnesota, March 19, with nine barges. (Credit: USACE)
The St. Paul Engineer District announced March 20 that the first tow of the 2025 navigation season arrived in St. Paul, Minn.
The M/V Neil N. Diehl, an Ingram Barge towboat, locked through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minn., March 19, with nine barges. Reaching St. Paul marks the unofficial start to the navigation season because it’s the last port on the Upper Mississippi River to open every year. The delay is a result of ice in Lake Pepin, near Red Wing, Minn., that prevent tows from heading upstream of the area until conditions improve.
The average first tow to reach the head of navigation in St. Paul is the third week in March. The M/V Joseph Patrick Eckstein was the first tow of the 2024 navigation season to reach St. Paul. It arrived March 17, 2024. The earliest date for a tow to reach St. Paul occurred March 4. It happened in 1983, 1984 and 2000.
With the head of navigation open, the Mississippi River navigation channel will continue providing safe, reliable and cost-effective waterborne transportation for the fertilizers that farmers depend on to grow the corn and soybeans that help feed America. The St. Paul District maintains the 9-foot-deep navigation channel and operates 12 locks and dams to support navigation from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa.
BARGE SHIPPING BENEFITS
The St. Paul District maintains a 9-foot-deep navigation channel and operates 12 locks and dams to support navigation from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy. On average, agricultural producers save around $1 per bushel on corn and soybeans by using the river to ship their commodities rather than other transportation methods.
The commercial navigation industry estimates an annual average savings of nearly $400 million by using the inland waterways instead of overland shipping methods. In addition to the economic savings, navigation reduces the stress on our roads and bridges. A 15-barge tow can move as much bulk commodities as 1,050 semis or more than 200 rail cars.
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