Port Of Kimmswick Completes Landing Dock

The Port of Kimmswick. Mo., official homeport of the Delta Queen, has completed its new boat landing dock, according to Neal Breitweiser, executive director of the Jefferson County Port Authority. The city board has voted to pave a street leading from downtown to the dock and to upgrade landscaping in the frontage.

“There is a road already there that’s perfectly functional,” Breitweiser said, but the repaving anticipates a robust season of passenger vessel visits. The port has been in talks with several river cruise operators regarding adding historic Kimmswick as a stop on river cruises, he said, including American Queen and Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruises of St. Louis. Before the pandemic, Kimmswick was renowned as a picturesque river town and had several “destination” restaurants that drew diners from all over the region. 

JeffCo Ports On The Move

Breitweiser said other Jefferson County ports also have recent news to report. There have been talks with American Patriot Holdings LLC about establishing a container-handling facility at the developing port of Herculaneum, Mo. APH has been developing purpose-built river container vessels and a network of facilities to handle them. The nearby port of Crystal City, Mo., is also making use of a recently awarded grant to study possible users of a port there.

“We’re pleased to see the continued investments occurring at the various ports in the bi-state St. Louis region,” said Mary Lamie, vice president-multi modal enterprises for Bi-State Development, which oversees the St. Louis Regional Freightway. “Efficiency has emerged as a hallmark of the region’s port system, which not only is the country’s third-largest inland port system, but also the most efficient, and these investments strengthen that position.”