Going with the floes

Ice in the Mississippi River is beginning to cause problems for barges north of St. Louis, but the floes passing Cape Girardeau are doing little to hamper river traffic here, area barge operators and port officials said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued rules Monday limiting the width of barge loads passing through locks north of St. Louis. Near zero daytime temperatures have caused the river to ice over quickly, corps spokesman Alan Dooley said.

A bigger concern for traffic in the Cape Girardeau area is a falling river level. In the last 10 days, water levels have dropped 5.5 feet and forecasts call for a drop of another 3 feet by Sunday.

Whether the river freezes more completely in this area will depend on the weather, Dooley said. "This time of year, the water is very cold coming down from up north and it doesn't take much of a push to turn it into hard water."

The falling water exposed a car that was driven off the Red Star boat ramp Jan. 26. All three Southeast Missouri State University students in the car escaped the early morning accident unharmed, but Missouri State Water Patrol troopers were unable to locate the car.

Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Cpl. Jason Selzer said he was unsure whether an attempt would be made to remove it from the river. The top of the car had collected a large amount of ice.

The icy river hasn't hampered barge operations at Missouri Grain and Barge, manager Bruce Engert said. "It has been a long time since the river froze," he said. "In fact, this is the first ice I have seen in a while."

At the SEMO Port Authority, business is proceeding as usual, port director Dan Overby said. Most of the Scott City port's traffic is either headed south or coming from the south.

The restrictions on the locks on the northern stretch of the river will slow down some traffic, he said, but "it probably won't cause us a tremendous amount of trouble."

However, a prolonged cold spell that thickened the ice could create difficulties, he said. A hard river freeze in the late 1980s closed the river, he noted.

"They just park and ride it out, knowing it won't last," Overbey said.

National Weather Service forecasts for the next two weeks show a prolonged spell of below-normal temperatures. That means daytime highs in the 20s and 30s in Cape Girardeau but temperatures near zero and continued icing conditions farther north.

Large amounts of ice south of St. Louis, even if they don't block traffic, can cause problems, Dooley said. The ice can move navigation buoys or break them free from their lines.

The corps is keeping close tabs on river ice and the lock system, working with barge operators to keep goods flowing, Dooley said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126