Does anyone know where I could find the schedule for barge traffic on pool 4 that’s up to date for 2017 season?
Looked on the COE site but couldn’t really find what I was looking for.
I’m sure BK probably knows.
Thanks,
Don
Hey Don,
There really isn’t a “schedule” for tows. Treasure Island Dinner cruiser, the Spirit of the Water has a schedule. We just need to watch when they are heading to the dam. Even then there are times when they stop at Colvil to drop off a barge or two.
There’s a couple of tools to help you.
The first link is Marine Traffic. This will show where a tow is at and the direction, SPEED and how long ago it’s position was reported. It’s not perfect because sometimes a tow will just appear out of no where. There’s a cell phone app as well that I use on the water IF I have net service. The longer the screen is watched the better your chances of knowing a tow is coming.
This is a global tracking system and I find it amazing at how many vessels are floating globally! (zoom out)
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-94/centery:44/zoom:8
Then there’s to Corps Lock Monitoring System.
The lock Queue Reports gives a person a heads up on when we might expect a tow to be arriving. Again, it’s not perfect but a good indicator.
It takes a tow about 8 hours to arrive at #3 from #4 and 4 hours from #2. So by checking when a tow came through lock 4, you’ll have about 8 hours before you can expect it’s arrival. Again, it might stop along the way or if it’s a smaller tow traveling faster it might cut some time off the 8 hours.
Once I know when a two is expected to arrive, I’ll switch over to Marine Traffic to keep an eye on it.
Once a tow calls into the lock you are screwed unless you’re right there and can check with the lock operator immediately. Sometimes they can squeeze you in before the tow arrives. But that’s not something to be counted on during a tourney.
You’ll have to select the Mississippi River and then the lock you want to check paying attention to the number of barges in each tow and of course if it’s locking up or down. The guys with 15 barges will take 2.5 hours. If you get stuck behind one of those boys break out the sandwiches.
Another handy river app ($6 or $7) is the app called simply enough “RiverApp”. Once it’s set up which is very easy, you’ll open the app on your phone and it will display the river area your interested in.
Right now mine shows:
At Red Wing Lock and Dam #3
672.5 ft- 31600 cfs
Today 8:15 pm
Hope this will help all of you tourney guys and us weekend warriors!
The app findship is free and works great too
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