Two locks on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, were shut to traffic starting this morning due to structural failures.
The Port Allen lock near Baton Rouge and Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) lock near New Orleans were shut around 9am ET, according to a status dashboard on the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) website. Both locks were shut after weld failures were reported on gate opening equipment, according to the Corps.
The Port Allen lock will remain shut for at least three weeks while the IHNC lock is estimated to be closed for a week.
The Port Allen lock sits on one of the two connections between Houston, Texas, and the Mississippi River via the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The IHNC lock connects the lower Mississippi River in New Orleans to sections of the Gulf ICW east of the river.
Barge traffic slows
Barge traffic between terminals and refineries on the Texas Gulf coast and points in Louisiana has slowed, market participants said this morning. Immediate price impacts for refined products and feedstocks were not clear.
A backup of 63 tows has built up at the IHNC since repairs started early on 30 March, according to today's daily river conditions report by barge operator American Commercial Barge Lines (ACBL), with an average wait time of 70 hours. ACBL expects the closure at IHNC to last until at least 7 April.
The Port Allen lock closure has caused significant delays at the Algiers lock connecting the river south of New Orleans to the ICW, with ACBL reporting 27 tows waiting and 22 tows transiting for an average of almost 35 hours this morning.
Scheduled repairs for the Bayou Boeuf lock on the ICW near Morgan City, Louisiana, have been delayed in response to the Port Allen closure.
