6 years, 2 months ago by Associated Press
Would increase wear and tear on highways, including US 61
A recent study by Wisconsin researchers suggests that the failure of any of the 25 aging locks on the upper Mississippi River could result in nearly half a million truckloads of freight on highways between Minnesota and Missouri, including US Highway 61.
The study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimates that a shutdown of the river at Hannibal would require trucks to move over 12 million tons of grain during a nine-month shipping season, costing millions of dollars and damaging roads.
The La Crosse Tribune reports that most of the shipments would travel through southern Minnesota and Iowa, eventually ending up on 61 to St. Louis, and would cause nearly $29 million in pavement damage. 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates the backlogged maintenance costs for locks and dams of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers totals to over $1 billion.
