Upper Mississippi System Reopens

On March 23, at 11 a.m., the mv. Crockett locked through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minn., the first to arrive for the unofficial start of the 2026 navigation season.

The mv. Crockett was built in 2019 by Vessel Repair in Port Arthur, Texas, and is operated by Kirby Inland Marine. It is 84.5 feet long and 24 feet wide and is powered by Cat 3512C Tier 3 twin diesel engines generating 2,680 hp.

The first tow arrives in St. Paul, Minn., on average, around the third week in March. The mv. Neil N. Diehl was the first tow of the 2025 navigation season to reach St. Paul, arriving on March 20, 2025. The earliest date for a tow to reach St. Paul occurred on March 4 in 1983, 1984 and 2000. The St. Paul District maintains the Mississippi River at a 9-foot navigation channel and operates 12 locks and dams to support river traffic from the Twin Cities to Guttenberg, Iowa.

On March 19, two northbound nine-barge loaded tows, including one pushed by the Crockett, and one two-barge empty tow crossed through the sheet ice in Lake Pepin from approximately Upper Mississippi Mile 766 to Mile 773, according to an email from Bernie Heroff, chairman of the River Industry Action Committee and a port captain at American River Transportation Company.

Elsewhere in the Upper Mississippi River system, Locks and Dam 25 at Winfield, Mo. (upriver of St. Louis) had scheduled closures March 25 and March 27 but is otherwise open for the season. Lock 16 at Muscatine, Iowa, has been open since March 8.

Tow traffic was reported passing through the Melvin Price Locks auxiliary chamber by March 19, and preparations were underway for a full 2026 spring reopening following closures.

On the Illinois River, Lockport Lock at Mile 291 is scheduled for a complete closure starting March 31 at 6 a.m. It will remain closed until May 19 for emergency miter gate repairs.