News

“Fix it as it fails” strategy won’t work for inland waterway system

A Farm Bureau leader says the U.S. can no longer take a “fix it as it fails” strategy towards its inland waterway system.

Last week, Minnesota Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap joined others on the AFBF Trade Advisory Committee examining infrastructure along the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

Seeing the system up close, he says investments need to be made to expand more locks from 600 to 1,200 feet.

“Typically a barge tow is 15 barges, and if it goes through a 600 foot lock, which pretty much all but two between Minneapolis and St. Louis are, it takes two to three hours.”

He tells Brownfield a 1,200 foot lock can get the same barge through in less than 30 minutes.

The House and Senate have both approved their versions of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes infrastructure projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Paap says the two bills need to be reconciled and a funding mechanism set.

“It’s always that appropriations (process).  We’ve got 42 locks on 37 different sites covering about 1,200 miles of the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois Rivers.  And about 57 percent of our infrastructure (on those rivers) is over 50 years old.”

Paap says Brazil and China are investing in river infrastructure, and the U.S. must do the same to keep its competitive advantage as a world export leader.