Dorena-Hickman Ferry Reopens

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry, running between Dorena, Mo., and Hickman, Ky., resumed operations November 16 after replacing its rudder, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced.

Tammy Hutchinson, executive director of the ferry, told The Waterways Journal that the towboat pushing the ferry barge, the Dorena II, originally operated in the Gulf area with a different type of rudder not as suited to the stronger currents of the upper rivers.

When workers found that the rudder was damaged in October—“it probably hit a log,” said Hutchinson—she inquired through the Missouri Department of Transportation and learned that there were U.S. Department of Transportation funds available for rudder replacement. The work was completed in drydock.

The ferry is the only direct link between the two states. It is now running on its normal winter schedule.