River at lowest level since January

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau stands at its lowest level in nine months, making navigation harder for boats used in construction of the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

"The water gets too shallow in spots," said Larry Owens, project manager for Traylor Brothers Inc., which is building the bridge. The work includes construction of a pier in the middle of the Mississippi River.

The water levels "will never be perfect," he said. "Obviously, this is a lot better than being flooded."

The river stood at 9.5 feet on the gauge Tuesday, the lowest since Jan. 23. Last year at this time, the river level was nearly 5 feet higher. At its current level, the river at Cape Girardeau is 22.5 feet below flood stage, which is 32 feet on the gauge.

The movement of barges upstream and downstream hasn't been affected by the low water so far, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and industry officials said.

"It has been a good year as far as river levels," said Bruce Engert, manager of Missouri Barge Lines in Cape Girardeau.

Barge traffic is down, but that's not because of low water, he said. The summer drought in the Midwest has lowered crop yields, resulting in less grain shipped to market, Engert said.

Don Coleman, chief of the water control management office of the Corps of Engineers in St. Louis, said the low reading on the gauge isn't cause for alarm.

Based on sea level

The Corps of Engineers measures the river level by a gauge that is based on elevation above sea level. The elevation used varies by location. Zero on the gauge at Cape Girardeau is 304.65 feet above mean sea level. At the current level of 9.5 feet on the gauge, the river at Cape Girardeau is about 16.5 feet deep in the middle, Coleman said.

That's more than deep enough to handle barge traffic, he said.

Engert said barge traffic wouldn't be hampered unless the river level dropped to 6 or 7 feet on the gauge.

The river has been rising slightly, buoyed by last week's rainfall triggered by Tropical Storm Isidore. The National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., expects the river to reach 10.2 feet on the gauge by Friday.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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