GENOA, Wis. – Shipping in the Mississippi will be backed up at the Genoa Dam in coming days. The Army Corps, which manages the dam, is replacing 85-year-old gates in the locks. Navigation will be stopped for 12-hour periods at 7 a.m, Tuesday and Thursday, and then the next week also on Tuesday and Thursday, also at 7 a.m. When locks reopen on those days, vessels will be allowed through with this priority:
> Government vessels.
> Cruise ships.
> Towboats and barges.
> Recreational boats.
The Army Corps has been replacing mitre gates one set at a time at its 29 Upper Mississippi dams. The Genoa gates, which date to 1937, have been dented and rammed and otherwise distressed over the decades.
Lock and Dam Number 8. Backs up the river 26 miles rom Genoa to Brownsville, LaCrosse and Dresbach.