# An 89-year-old lock gate on the upper Mississippi was lifted out by a 500-ton floating crane and replaced in a 12-hour closure, one of eight steel leaves up to 33 feet tall swapped in four closures at a lock that passes close to 5,000 barges a year

> The Army Corps of Engineers replaced the 89-year-old miter gates at Lock and Dam 9 on the upper Mississippi in four 12-hour closures, using a 500-ton floating crane. Each replacement leaf measures up to 33 feet tall and 61.5 feet long. Lock 9 handled 1,478 commercial lockages in 2025, below its 10-year average of 1,830, and moved about 8.6 million tons of cargo.

- Date: 2026-11-15 · published 2026-11-15T21:11:26.232Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/101807-an-89-year-old-lock-gate-on-the-upper-mississippi-was-lifted-out-by-a-500-ton
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Scheduled lock closures temporarily interrupt barge movements on a key grain export corridor, which can briefly tighten barge capacity and raise freight costs for shipped corn and soybeans. The work is planned maintenance, so the price effect should be small and short-lived.

## Read by commodity

- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Sources

- autonocion.com: https://www.autonocion.com/us/89-year-old-lock-gate-mississippi-500-ton-floating-crane/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.