The U.S. Coast Guard said there were over 1,000 barges backed up along the lower Mississippi River late last week. The Coast Guard stopped all traffic on the river near Memphis, Tennessee, after a fracture was discovered in a bridge that carries traffic over the river.
The good news is barge traffic was allowed to resume last Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard issued a statement saying that, “Based on the information provided to us by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard has determined that transit under the I-40 bridge is safe for maritime traffic,” says USCG Captain Ryan Rhodes, the Captain of the Port of Memphis.
Mike Steenhoek of the U.S. Soy Transportation Coalition says, “This is obviously good news. We look forward to seeing barge traffic on the Mississippi River back to normal conditions soon.”
Steenhoek also notes that, “the U.S. can be increasingly described as a spending nation, now I hope that this situation will spur efforts to produce a comprehensive infrastructure investment strategy that addresses the needs of both urban and rural America.”