May 11, 2007 The Mighty Mississippi - Part 2

We spent this morning at the Mississippi River Center to see Lock and Dam #15. We were incredibly lucky to see a barge go thru the lock!! Have I told you (again), how much this river fascinates me!!!

Some real interesting facts and pictures:

From St. Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis Missouri, the river falls about 420 feet. In order to make the river more navigable, 29 locks and dams were built.

Dam #15 is largest rollar dam in the world. Each of these rolls is 110' long and 26' in diameter - WOW! These dams control the depth of the water in the barge lanes.

The ships go thru a lock right above the dam. Here is a tow vehicle with 15 barges in the lock. They were lowering the water before going to the next stage of the river.

Notice the bridge - it is called a swing bridge. And it did swing all the way around. Once the bridge is off its "peg," the wind can easily turn it. A 35 mile per hour wind speed restriction was placed on the bridge for safety. If there is a wind, often the motor is not needed, and the brake is used to control speed.

There she goes and the bridges swings around.

The typical ship is one tow and 15 barges. Each barge is equivalent to the holding power of 58 large semis. So one 15 barge tow is equal to 870 large semis. - WOW!!!

What an incredible site to see. We went thru the museum and learned even more about the locks, the dam, the floods, and this Great River.

And we finished the day with a nice campfire and watching the river run.