The 2025 Upper Mississippi Navigation Season Begins

The mv. Neil N. Diehl kicked off the 2025 navigation season as it passed through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minn., on March 19. Ingram’s 6,140-hp. twin-screw towboat, built by Dravo Corporation, brought with it a tow of nine barges.

According to the St. Paul Engineer District, reaching St. Paul marks the unofficial start to the navigation season because it’s the last port on the Upper Mississippi River to open every year. The first tow to reach the head of navigation in St. Paul does so, on average, the third week in March, but extensive ice in Lake Pepin, near Red Wing, Minn., prevented tows from heading upstream of the area.

In 2024, the mv. Joseph Patrick Eckstein began the navigation season when it reached St. Paul on March 17. The earliest for a tow to reach St. Paul was March 4, which occurred in 1983, 1984 and 2000.

Lock and Dam 2 began operation in 1931, with major rehabilitations occurring in 1948 and 1995. More than 11 million tons of cargo moves through the lock annually, the majority of which consists of agricultural products, chemicals and other raw materials. Approximately 12,000 recreational craft join commercial barges through the lock each year.

The St. Paul District maintains 12 locks and dams from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa, aiding the movement of the nation’s commodities. According to the Corps, a single barge filled with 50,000 bushels of corn or wheat can produce approximately 1.3 million boxes of cereal or 2.1 million loaves of bread.

“With the head of navigation open, the Mississippi River navigation channel will continue providing safe, reliable and cost-effective waterborne transportation for the fertilizers that farmers depend on to grow the corn and soybeans that help feed America,” said the Corps in its March 20 announcement. “Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy.”