Redeye Crossing Reach, Lower Mississippi River. Report 2. Navigation Conditions.
1997
McCollum, Randy A. | Thevenot, Michelle
Redeye Crossing, on the lower Mississippi River between River Miles 223 and 225, has tow traffic from 1 to 49 barges and oceangoing vessels up to 40-ft draft. The presently maintained channel requires approximately 3 million cubic yards of dredging annually to maintain the 40-ft-draft channel through the crossing. The proposed 45-ft-draft channel would require increased dredging without the use of channel training structures. Proposals to construct a series of spur dikes along the left descending bank adjacent to the Redeye Crossing are being considered. The effects of these dikes on traffic in the crossing could not be determined except ty the use of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) ship/tow simulator. The plans as tested in the simulator were (a) existing channel conditions; (b) Plan SA with dikes to maintain a 40-ft channel; and (c) Plan 8A with dikes to maintain a 45-ft channel. The vessels tested were (a) 2-barge tows; (b) 840- by l38-ft tankers; and (c) 25- and 49-barge tows. Pilots licensed to operate the particular vessels being considered in the Redeye Crossing area came to WES and performed transiting operations in the study reach with the different channel designs over a range of river discharge and stages. The studies found that the dikes would have little effect on the deep-draft ships and the large tows. The small tows will have added difficulty in transits, especially going upstream, due to the increase of current speed in the deep draft channel and the restriction of channel width in the crossing available to the small tows during low river stages.
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