More locks and dams

I am standing above Lock 15, at Rock Island, IL to take this photo. You can see the car/railroad bridge, and the skyline of Davenport, IA behind it.















The first of the barges is coming into the lock, heading upriver....

Some of the containers are open. Coal can't be safely covered; it produces methane, which could explode. The other covered containers are possibly carrying fertilizer. We know that because most of the traffic going upriver is moving coal, fertilizer and petroleum products. The traffic going downriver usually moves grains.

The MS River is 2300 miles long, and runs through 11 states.  It is the drain for more than 40% of the US!   Every tug on the river pushing 15 barges is the equivalent of a 3 mile long train, or more than 700 big trucks.  Each of these piles of coal would more than fill one truck.

There are 29 dams and locks on the upper MS river.  Dams are not needed on the lower portion of the river, because the Illinois, Ohio and Missouri rivers all come into the MS, keeping the water levels high enough for barge and boat traffic.  The first lock and dam built on the river was here, at Rock Island, in 1932.  It took 2 years to complete.  Before the lock and dam was built here, moving through the Quad Cities was dangerous for some and impossible for others, because of the rapids.  The Corps of Engineers dredged the channel here from less than 4 feet, to more than nine to improve navigation.  But, the biggest help to navigation was the dam and lock system.





Once the lock fills, the traffic is almost close enough to touch! These men told us they were looking forward to tomorrow, when their 28-day shift ends, and they begin 28 days off. Hey Mark, does this sound like a fireman's schedule on steroids?!?

Hurricane Irene is keeping weather forecasters in a frenzy of happiness right now.  We're watching.  Jan and Eddie have taken the porch furniture in, moved light-weight things, and tied down the hot tub cover.  We're not concerned!