A stretch of the Ohio River that has become a choke point reopened on August 16 after water levels rose, but a second dredging vessel was on its way to more permanently deepen the navigation channel, US Coast Guard officials said.
Vessels towing barges have been waiting since noon Friday to pass through the Ohio River near where it meets the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois.
The Coast Guard let 10 southbound vessels through on Tuesday with another 30 waiting, said Denise Matthews, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit at Paducah, Kentucky. At sunset, the Coast Guard will switch to clearing a backlog of 16 northbound vessels.
The Coast Guard will resume letting southbound traffic through the stretch being dredged on Wednesday morning.
The US Army Corps of Engineers had dredged 1,200 feet of a 3,900-foot section as of 1 pm CDT (1800 GMT), Matthews said. Another dredging vessel was expected to arrive by midnight Tuesday and begin working at the opposite end of the section.
The Army Corps will dredge four areas between Mound City and Cairo, Illinois, during the next two weeks.
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