One of the main methods of transportation for the regions surrounding the Mississippi river is using the river to float items down stream. Fortunately, with the increase in rain in the last couple of days, the river has deepened considerably and many worries have been alleviated.

ST. LOUIS -- Mississippi River shippers have returned to hauling full loads after several storms and aggressive rock-clearing helped deepen the waterway, eliminating worries about barge traffic shutting down, the river's stewards and barge operators said Wednesday.

Barge operators had lessened their loads as the river's level fell, allowing the barges to sit higher in the water. But there have been concerns for months that if the water level fell much more, all barge traffic could be halted.

The recent reversal of that has the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard declaring victory, though they cautioned the threat to shipping on the vital corridor could return next winter as the nation's worst drought in decades has shown no signs of easing.

"I'd say we've gotten through the toughest period we're going to see in the low-water period," said Mike Petersen, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, which scrambled in recent months to clear rock pinnacles from a crucial stretch of the Mississippi south of St. Louis.

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