Corps to host open houses onboard M/V Mississippi towboat

The M/V Mississippi is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers towboat operating on the Mississippi River. It is the largest diesel towboat on the river. (Credit: Tory Rae Thompson)

The St. Louis Engineer District will provide two opportunities for the public to tour the M/V Mississippi towboat at no cost while it is in the region.

Public open houses will take place:

• Saturday, August 5 from 1 – 4:30 p.m. along the riverfront in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
• Tuesday, August 8 from 2 – 6 p.m. at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam in Alton, Ill.

The vessel will be in the region as part of the Mississippi River Commission’s (MRC) Low Water Inspection trip. The open houses will provide information about the importance of the Mississippi River System and the diversity of uses and users along the waterway.

The M/V Mississippi, which will host the Mississippi River Commission’s annual low-water inspection trip and associated public hearing August 17 at the St. Louis Riverfront and August 18 at the Cape Girardeau Riverfront.

The towboat, which is 241 feet long, 58 feet wide and has three diesel engines providing 6,300 horsepower vessel, serves as a working towboat 90% of the time. The vessel’s primary mission is to move barges in support of bank stabilization work on the lower Mississippi River. Each spring and late summer, the MRC conducts a series of public meetings aboard the vessel.

The MRC flagship can accommodate 152 persons on board to include 117 passengers and 35 crew. The vessel houses 43 staterooms allowing 86 overnight passengers and crew. The boat also has a dining room that seats 90 and a conference room that seats 117 people.

The MRC, established in 1879, uses the vessel to host public hearings, a process unique to the MRC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, that allow the public a greater voice in shaping federal policy by discussing their concerns with those individuals responsible for improving the condition of the river, fostering navigation, promoting commerce, and reducing flood risk along the watershed.

For additional information about the M/V Mississippi or the Mississippi River Commission, visit the Mississippi Valley Division’s website: http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil. For more information on the public hearings, visit http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/Home/MRC.