Blencoe, IA: New port for grain on the Missouri River

(Satellite, to be built)

Yesterday I learned that a river port for containers is planned in Cairo, IL. Today I learned that a port on the Missouri River for grain is planned to serve the Great Plains.

safe_image for Western Iowa co-op starts work on $11M port; barges to return to upper Missouri River
"With a few exceptions, barges have not traveled as far north as Blencoe in over 15 years. The once-thriving barge industry in Sioux City disappeared in the early 2000s after a combination of drought, economic recession, low commodity prices and political infighting over management of the river led shippers to turn to rail and trucks....The port will have the capacity to load or unload up to six barges at a time."
[This port will not only allow the co-op to ship grain directly to the export market at the Gulf of Mexico, it allows fertilizers, aggregates and other products to be shipped into the region.]
"For many years, Missouri River barge interests fought to maintain consistent flows for upstream navigation, opposed by some environmental groups looking to protect endangered species and upstream recreational interests that lobbied to keep more water in a series of reservoirs in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Caught in the middle was the Corps of Engineers, which found itself under pressure to make changes to a master plan for the river that historically favored navigation."
[To satisfy the recreational interests, the USACE started keeping the reservoirs at a high level during the dry Winter seasons. This policy is what caused so much river flooding in 2019.]

Massman Construction Co. posted three photos with the comment:

Massman recently partnered with NEW Cooperative to help construct a new Missouri River port facility near Blencoe, Iowa.

This project includes 96” mooring pile as part of a new barge loading and unloading terminal that will be the northernmost port facility on the Missouri River, at Mile 680.5. The facility hopes to accommodate up to 240,000 tons of soybeans, corn, and other grain and fertilizer products a year, with the capacity to load and unload up to nine barges at a time.

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