COLD HALTS MISSISSIPPI BARGES

Continuing brutally cold weather brought Mississippi River barge traffic to a halt Sunday, leaving two tugs and their loads frozen immobile near Cape Girardeau.

One tug, the Dennis Hendrix of Jeffersonville, Ind., was stranded just a couple hundred meters north of the water system pump house at Cape Rock Park. Another tug based in Minneapolis, was stopped slightly upstream but still visible from the park.

The craft came to a halt at about 5 a.m. Sunday morning as ice chunks fused together forming a solid layer across the river. The temperature around that time had dropped to minus 8 degrees, according Missouri Weather Cooperative at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. That reading tied the record low for the area set in 1985.

Local barge workers said ice hasn't stopped barge traffic on the Mississippi since 1979. That year ended a three-year span of winters during which the river iced over.

The duty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard based in Paducah, Ky., said stranded tugs hadn't checked in. However, workers with Marine Equipment Towing Co. of Cape Girardeau said they knew of nine boats stuck between Cape Girardeau and Cairo and another six to the north in the 28 miles to Grand Tower.

Being stuck is no more than an inconvenience for tug crews because they are well stocked with supplies, said Harold Dodd of Marine Equipment. In fact, he said, they were likely relaxing and enjoying the unexpected day off.

"They are in no real jeopardy," Dodd said. "They are not in any danger."

Temperatures are expected to rise into the mid-40s today and extend into the 50s by Tuesday. With the warm-up, the barges are expected to be back on their way no later than Wednesday.

The ice problems were not solely the result of five days of subzero temperatures.

"What happened is the Ohio River is high and the Mississippi River is low, which restricts flow. It backs up and there is no current to push it out," one Marine Equipment worker said.

Lt. Rob Coller of the U.S. Coast Guard echoed that assessment and said several barge companies are trying to break the ice to alleviate the problem as best they can at a point about 10 miles below Thebes, Ill., and 32 miles south of Cape Girardeau.

"Several companies right around the Dog Tooth Bend area keep running tugs to break up the ice and help things flow," said Coller.

The frequent freeze and thaw cycles in recent weeks also contributed, leaving huge chunks of ice, making the river more susceptible to freezing problems, Coller said.

Aside from shipping delays, the freeze is causing few difficulties. However, Coller said barges which are able to make any headway will have navigation problems because the ice may not let them go in directions they intend.

"It just sits there until someone busts through it," said Coller.