Final passage at Guttenberg: The Marquette company pusher-tow Thomas Erickson and 15 barges pass through Lock and Dam Number 10 on a dreary December day.
Upper Mississippi navigation ends for winter
WINONA, Minn. — The last tow of the 2023 navigation season on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River has gone south for the winer. All locks at dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg in Iowa – 240 miles — are closed. The Winona fleeting harbor was cleared out last week, except for a few empty barges that will winter in place. The 6,100-horsepwoer Motor Vessel Thomas E. Erickson departed Lock and Dam 10 at Guttenberg southward on Sunday with 15 barges – the last of the season The locks could have remained open later with this year’s unseasonably ice-free December, but the Army Corps needed to close the locks at Hastings, Red Wing, Alma and Dresbach to start major renovations that will take all winter.