Giving Thanks After A Turbulent Year
Thanksgiving Day is a uniquely American tradition that many other countries admire. This Thanksgiving season, we in the inland maritime community—and the communities scattered along our waterways—have a lot to be thankful for.
At the top of the list are the mariners who are working throughout this holiday season and the shoreside staff supporting them. Like a mighty towboat pushing loaded barges southbound on the Mississippi River, you power this industry and our nation day in and day out. We thank you.
We’re also thankful for our current reprieve from low water on many of our rivers. The returning Midwestern rains that are replenishing the Mississippi and other rivers are certainly cause for thanks, both for farmers as well as barge operators. The latest drought, which has lasted years in some regions, appears to be moderating. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this winter is likely to see wetter-than-average conditions for the entire northern tier of the continental United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region, due to a slow-developing La Niña pattern.
At the same time, drier-than-average conditions are expected from the Southwest to the Southeast, Gulf Coast and lower mid-Atlantic states. As NOAA uses the phrase, “wetter than average” means among the wettest third of all recorded years, while “drier than average” means among the driest recorded years.
This year saw several unscheduled closures of locks and dams that have outlasted their design life. The Holt Lock on the Black Warrior River was reopened after an unscheduled closure of 102 days due to cracks in a monolith. The main lock chamber at Wilson Locks and Dam closed on September 25 for additional inspections and repairs after divers discovered cracking in the lock gates on both the land and river sides.
While these closures are certainly not a cause for thanksgiving, the publicity surrounding them has helped familiarize the American public again with the needs of the lock and dam system. Of course, we in the industry have been talking about this for years. We have all known for years that the inland waterways lock and dam system is a long-term care patient in need of extensive surgery and serious treatment. That makes it all-the-more appropriate to be thankful for the first responders when they show up to perform “emergency care” on them.
Lastly, we at The Waterways Journal would like to give thanks to you, the reader. Thank you for reading these pages, writing letters, submitting stories and being part of the story. Happy Thanksgiving!
