The 2020 shipping season has unofficially closed with the last barge locking through Lock #2 at Hastings, on November 30th. According to published reports, The St. Paul U. S. Army Corps of Engineers District, locked its last tow of the season, the Motor Vessel “The Colonel”, with two empty barges, ending the navigation season on the Upper Mississippi River. Traditionally, the last tow heading south of Lock and Dam 2, near Hastings has marked the unofficial end of the navigation season. The “R. Clayton McWhorter” was the first tow of the 2020 season, locking through on April 6.
(Photo: The Colonel. Courtesy USACE/George Stringham)
