World-Grain.com By Matt Noltemeyer
May 19, 2021
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Grain shipments by rail and barge continued to be robust in the latest reports issued by the American Association of Railroads and US Department of Transportation. Grain brokers, traders, merchandisers and millers continued to report slow car placement by Class 1 railroads. That situation mostly covered winter wheat areas, and was felt most heavily in the central and southern US Plains. Shippers in the area said empty rail car placement at origins were two weeks to 40 days behind. In recognition of potential bumper crops of wheat, corn and soybeans, Union Pacific railroad in mid-May met with select grain company leaders to communicate plans. Details of that meeting were scant. On May 17, the Tennessee Department of Transportation announced it had awarded a contract for the emergency repair of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge to Kiewit Infrastructure Group. The bridge spans the Mississippi River from Tennessee to Arkansas. TDOT said the work would be completed in two phases beginning as early as May 19, and that both phases would be completed before the bridge could be reopened. The bridge was shut down May 11 after a crack was discovered during a routine inspection. The crack was present since at least 2019, TDOT said. Waterway restrictions implemented immediately by the Coast Guard restricted vessel traffic from mile marker 736 to mile marker 737 on the Mississippi River. By May 14 when the restrictions were lifted, there were 62 vessels and 1,058 barges in the queue, according to the Coast Guard.
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