For years and years, maintenance has been deferred and deferred and deferred on the locks on our nation's riverways.
It's a big problem.
That is gonna get bigger.
Caught this in the news right before Thanksgiving:
Chokepoint of a Nation
A symbol of America’s ailing infrastructure, Lock No. 52 on the Ohio River is responsible for a shipping bottleneck that hobbles commerce far and wide.
"Hobbles".
What a mess.
What a shame.
Built in 1929, Lock No. 52 sits in a quiet corner of southern Illinois that happens to be the busiest spot on America’s inland waterways, where traffic from the eastern United States meets and passes traffic from the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River. More than 80 million tons of grain, coal, fuel and other goods — worth over $22 billion — move through here each year.
But, Lock No. 52 is a serious bottleneck in innumerable supply chains nationwide. It is emblematic of the nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure coast to coast — including locks, ports, highways and railroads.
Full article:
And this is just 1 lock. Of dozens.
Out for now........
Matt