Since the early 20th century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the Mississippi River annually to keep the channel open for boats, ships and barges.
The city of Wabasha wants to build a barge terminal to facilitate the transfer of sand from river barges to trucks for transport to off-site facilities. It can then be used as fill material for existing sand and gravel mines or another potential reuse.
The accumulation of sediment has been “a forever situation” at the location, where the Mississippi and Chippewa rivers come together, said John Friedmeyer, city council president and president of the Wabasha Port Authority.
The 8.2-acre Wabasha Barge Facility would be built on a vacant, 59-acre parcel. The city would own the project site and contract out the port operations and transportation of materials.
Read the full story in Finance and Commerce.