EXPERTS WAIT TO RESUME BARGE TRAFFIC

They're a river traffic dream team -- nine men from the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard and various barge companies -- and they spend the better part of each day eyeballing flood data.

Based at the Coast Guard's Traffic Information Center in St. Louis, the group must decide when barges can move on the Mississippi again.

Sometime today, barges will begin moving from St. Louis north, but southbound traffic will remain stuck in the harbor.

The river stage must be down to 41 feet for barges to move through the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers at Cairo, Ill., an area playing a crucial role in this year's flood. The level stood at 52 feet Sunday and won't drop to below 50 until the end of the week or later.

In the Great Flood of 1993, the Ohio river provided some relief as flooding moved from the upper Mississippi south.

But this time the Ohio, Illinois and upper Mississippi all flooded, and the Mississippi backed up at the confluence.

There have been about 135 towboats sitting dormant on the Mississippi for two weeks, each losing about $5,000 in daily revenue. Barge companies are ready to get them moving again, but can't until the water drops.

Water-drenched towns like Commerce are another consideration. The wake from moving towboats produces hydrodynamic pressure that can damage the foundations of flooded homes like those in Commerce.

Buddy Compton, a member of the River Industry Action Committee, also is a port captain for a Midwestern barge line and a member of the dream team at the Traffic Control Center.

He said barge company owners are careful to consider such concerns before moving their fleets.

"Safety with their equipment and other people's property is their number one priority," Compton said. "If we are considering something that might harm someone, we're not going to do it. It's not worth it."

But Roy Jones, chairman of the Commerce Board of Trustees, isn't so sure.

"I don't think they're a bit concerned about Commerce," he said. "I think they are concerned that they are losing $1.2 million a day.

"They could solve the problem by coming down here and buying us out. Then they could run up and down the river like bats out of hell."

Coast Guard Capt. Scott Cooper hopes an outreach program by the Traffic Control Center will halt fears of damage when barge traffic resumes. The barge companies will conduct test tows so communities along the river can see the results of traffic.

Cooper said Coast Guard staff will stand on the shore along with town officials to watch the test tows.

No one knows when the tests will begin south of St. Louis. Cooper would only say the Coast Guard wasn't close to opening traffic there.