Sunday, July 27, 2014

A Three State Day

Never being the type of people to wait for interesting stuff to happen to us, we left "camp" in Canton, Missouri, and headed north to Keokuk, IA. On the way we reflected on the after dark activities last night.

About 10pm, a barge went through Lock 20 headed downriver, and another went through a bit later headed upstream.

























It's hard to see in the photos, but it was an awesome sight to hear the powerful engines and high power lights that help the captains move the barges. The barge coming upstream had his lights on until just before entering the lock.


Each 15 barge unit has some outrageous statistics. 15 barges tied together is the standard "tow", and is 1/4 mile long , or over 1300 feet, and can carry 22,500 tons of goods or 6,804,000 gallons of liquid. Each 15 barge unit is equal in capacity to 11.5 miles of large semi trucks parked nose to tail, or 2 3/4 miles of rail cars. It's hard to grasp the magnitude.

We arrived at Lock 19 in Keokuk and walked out onto the old railway of the Southern Pacific train.  The old swinging bridge has been abandoned, and the railway over the Mississippi converted to a walking path.  On the west side, the path ends at an observation platform with a great view of the lock. The observation platform is on the upper left.


Shortly after we arrived a barge arrived going upstream.



























The entire 15 barge unit plus the boat was able to make it inside the lock due to the extreme length of this lock.  Note the dark water line near the top of the concrete wall.  This lock is connected to the dam just visible in the upper right, that is used to generate power for most of the midwest and St Louis.  The height difference between the lake behind the dam and the river downstream is approximately 36 feet, so that's what the barge needs to be raised or lowered! Make a note of the height of the boat in reference to the top of the concrete wall.


And after the lock is flooded!

The boat and barges motored out of the upstream end of the lock.  So cool!  The lock was held at the higher level as another barge was coming through going downstream.  After it entered the lock, the water was pumped out, and away she went!


Knowing that we were in Iowa, having crossed the Des Moines River just south of Keokuk, we decided that a detour north to Ft Madison, IA, was in order, since its only another 20 miles or so away. Ft Madison has three claims to fame:  the longest swinging bridge over the Mississippi, a recreated Fort Madison, and a jewelry store with an interesting sign.

We try to take a side trip into the downtown areas of the towns we visit, and came across this sign in front of a jewelry store that does watch repair:


Notice the time.  It was 3:30pm when we took the picture.  Even allowing for different time zones…..

The recreated fort appeared interesting from the outside, but a trip inside revealed an entry fee of $6.45 per person.  Not that interesting.


The Mississippi at this point is over a mile wide.  I have tried unsuccessful to capture that, but, forgive me, it's simply impossible.


The bridge crossing the Mississippi is called the Santa Fe Swinging Bridge.  Built by the Santa Fe railroad, it is the major artery across the river for miles in either direction. As luck would have it, just as we climbed onto the bridge approach, the alarms sounded and the lights started flashing, indicating an approaching "swing".





After a 90 degree swing, the approaching barge drove through, and the bridge moved back into position.  The gates opened, the lights went off, and we crossed into Illinois, the third state we went to today.

A leisurely drive through the quaint town of Nauvoo, one of the original Mormon settlements in the area, and south to the town of Quincy, along a highway called the Great River Road, led us to the "new" bridge over Ole' Miss.


Quincy was promoted as a shipping point to rival St Louis back in the 1830's, but it's prominence waned as time went on and St Louis proved to be a formidable rival. Surviving numerous booms and busts over the years, Quincy has defined itself as a shipping point for many large companies that have found the business climate more to their liking.

Having made it back to Missouri, we completed the loop back to Canton.  Finding all of our weekend neighbors gone, we settled in for a quiet evening watching the river. We can almost imagine Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on their raft…..

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