Midwestern United States River Barges

[Tom Robbins]

Years of chasing birds along the major rivers of the Midwest made me aware of the incredible volume of raw materials - ore, chemical, and other bulk freight - moving over the water by river barges. This is the life blood of commerce, and yet the infrastructure of lock and dam has jeopardized the existence of all wetlands along their respective waterways for decades.


My bias is solidly in favor of the wetlands, yet the small world of river commerce has an odd appeal, and is unknown to most people. A couple of photos:

Tom

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Tom,

This is a great subject with endless points of vantage. Still, most people have few such pictures at hand. They're going to have to hunt through old files to be able to contribute. So expect to have to post more yourself!

Yes these massive waterways are the life blood for so many industries. This river traffic has made great cities from mere trading and farm support areas. Soon flood control, taking enough water, sewage, industrial waste and traffic compete with each other. The stake-holders fight for their own imperatives. Unfortunately, the vulnerable constituents without voices or power have been the birds and other wildlife of the wetlands. In all our engineering feats to tame the rivers, we shrunk the marshes along the river and at it's meeting with the ocean.

As one side effect, not seen by the US Army corps of Engineers, was the loss of 20 miles of marshlands vegetation to slow down and tame the tornadoes and storms thundering North-Westward from the Carribbean. Hence the New Orleans disasters.

The immediate benefits of diversions and locks for flood control are so strong. Therefore, we'd always repeat our mistakes, never believing that 20 miles of wetlands could be lost and so make New Orleans even more vulnerable. Of course, the ecosystem being devastated robs the area of so many natural species that enrich us. So we must conclude that the engineering of the Mississippi River caused one of the worst ecological and geosocial disasters in USA history.​

Back to the great rivers and the traffic, I hope you will show us more, from giant barges and tugboats great river boats and tour boats.

Thanks for introducing the subject.

Asher