Mississippi Mosey 2

Once Lock 11 has emptied, the gates open and the remaining barges are pushed in.

 

The Mississippi system is new to me, so here’s a question:  since this lock opened for navigation in 1937, what did traffic look like the first year?  Was double-locking a common occurrence?

Here’s a glance at how the tow is held together.

 

 

 

 

At first the exit is slow, but once the forward six barges are wired in place, which took no more than 10 minutes,

Barrett’s 6000+ hp engines accelerated, turbos screamed, and

her wake raced away.

Here’s the view back up to Eagle Point Park, where I took the first photos from.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.