May 22, 2023

Updates begin on improving Mississippi River infrastructure

Posted May 22, 2023 4:28 PM

The Army Corps of Engineers held a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of repairs to a lock and dam on the Upper Mississippi River that’s crucial to shipping corn and other commodities.

Lock and Dam 25, almost 50 miles north of St. Louis, hasn’t been extensively repaired since it was constructed in the early 20th century.

Funding for the project was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Illinois Corn Growers Association, long at the forefront of advocating for updates to the Lock and Dam, applauded the development. “Our hope is this will be the beginning of a waterfall of infrastructure work on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers,” says ICGA President Matt Rush.

Lock and Dam 25 is crucially important to corn growers as 60 percent of corn and soybean exports are transported on the Mississippi River. The river is important in shipping products both domestically and abroad.

- NAFB