ANKENY, Iowa — The shutdown of Mississippi River shipping at the M Bridge at Memphis has come at a critical time for U.S. grain and soy growers and shippers, according to the Soy Transportation Coalition, an agricultural industry group. Export prices had been at an eight-year high, but speculators backed off on futures almost immediately. Corn futures retreated 5%. Hundreds of barges are anchored upstream within a mile of the bridge, with grain from Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and upper Mississippi river ports. The best case scenario, said the Soy Transportation Coalition, is that traffic can resume within a few days. The M Bridge, however, may take months to fix, perhaps more than a year, with frequent interruptions to rver traffic.
Earlier: Unsafe bridge backs up 800 barges
M Bridge. A just-discovered structural issue rendered the brudge a choke point for Mississippi River shipping.