Navigation season ending on the Upper Mississippi River
Written by Marine Log Staff
The M/V Sierra Dawn departed late afternoon enroute to the St. Paul District's Lock and Dam 2, near Hastings, Minn., with 12 barges. (Photo Credit: Patrick Moes)
The last tow of the 2025 Upper Mississippi River navigation season departed St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, November 25. The M/V Sierra Dawn, operated by St. Louis, Mo.-based ARTCo, departed late afternoon enroute to the St. Paul Engineer District’s Lock and Dam 2, near Hastings, Minn., with 12 barges.
Traditionally, the last tow to depart St. Paul and head south of Lock and Dam 2, marks the unofficial end of the navigation season. It typically happens around the last week of November or the first week of December. The last tow of the 2024 navigation season was the M/V Ashley Danielson; she departed December 1, 2024.
The 2025 navigation season started with the arrival of the M/V Neil N. Diehl, when she arrived in St. Paul March 19, with nine barges.
“It’s a bittersweet milestone when the last tow departs,” said Mitch Serjogins, St. Paul District acting locks and dams chief. “It’s the end of the season, but the work is not done. Maintenance becomes our priority over the winter to ensure we continue providing a reliable navigation channel for the movement of commodities up and down the Mississippi River.”
Serjogins said St. Paul District staff are working on maintenance projects scheduled at Lock and Dam 7, near La Crescent, Minn., and Lock and Dam 9, near Lynxville, Wis. Due to the scheduled maintenance, the St. Paul District locks and dams from St. Paul to Lynxville will be closed December 8 – March 15, 2026.
The St. Paul District navigation program provides a safe, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation system on the Upper Mississippi River for the movement of commercial goods and for national security needs. To do this, the district maintains a 9-foot navigation channel and 13 locks and dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy.
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