Lock 2 Sees First Towboat of the Year on the Mississippi

On Sunday, the inaugural towboat of 2024 navigated through Hastings, Minnesota's Lock and Dam 2, heralding the commencement of the Mississippi River's navigation season for the year.

The St. Paul District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers marks the arrival of the first tow at Lock and Dam 2 as the de facto beginning of the navigation season along the Mississippi River. This event indicates that the river's lock system is fully operational for both commercial and leisure watercraft.

Marquette Transportation Company's towboat, the Joseph Patrick Eckstein, made its passage through the lock with a convoy of 12 barges bound for St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.

This year's season started slightly earlier than usual on March 17, compared to the historical average start date of March 22. The record for the earliest arrival of an upbound tow at this lock dates back to March 4, recorded in the years 1983, 1984, and 2000, according to the Corps.

The previous year's first tow was recorded on March 12, with the Ingram vessel Philip M. Pfeffer moving six barges through Lock and Dam 2. The final tow of the season departed on December 5, with Marquette's Thomas E. Erickson leaving from Lock and Dam 10 near Guttenberg, Iowa.

During this winter, maintenance work necessitated the closure of four locks and dams, specifically numbers 2, 3, 4, and 7, all of which reopened following the completion of repairs on March 16.