Shipping season on the Mississippi River

Barges
Barges on the Mississippi River

Barges on the river near downtown. The buildings in the background are in downtown St. Paul. You can take a picture like this from the MRT bike trail in between Warner Road and the river.

There are no ice cutters on the river. The shipping season starts each year when the barges can get through the ice. The river near St. Paul does not freeze solid but can ice over on the surface. There isn’t any ice yet.

The Mississippi is a wonderful natural resource but it is also an important shipping corridor. The shipping industry provides jobs too. Those barges need to be loaded and unloaded and the tugboats and towboats that push the barges need pilots and crews.

Barges are fun to photograph because they often have rust on them.

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