As I was leaving the riverfront yesterday I saw this barge rig carrying a load of wind turbine blades up the Mississippi. It was the first time I'd seen this particular cargo out there.
I think most of the barges I see on the river are carrying agricultural products--grains, primarily. That's the biggest economic impact of extreme low-water periods like the one we're having this fall: it's more difficult for farmers to get their harvests to market.
Products of the sand and gravel industry--piles of rock, Portland cement, stuff like that--are a common sight on barges. I also see a lot of coal being shipped by barge, though maybe not as much as I once did now that TVA's Allen Fossil Plant downstream of downtown Memphis has been converted to natural gas. Sometimes I see barges that appear to contain some variety of fuel in liquid or gas form.
But that's about it for what I routinely see being shipped out on the river. So it was interesting to see something new yesterday.
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