[Dixielandjazz] The Iowa

[jobriant at sunrisetelecom.com]

Ed Danielson wrote:

> The Iowa?  Shouldn't they put it in Davenport?  The 
> Mississippi should be deep enough.
> Maybe the Bixfest could be held on board.

Ocean-going ships can go upstream only as far as Baton Rouge, LA.
There, the Huey Long bridge is low enough to prevent them from going
further.  This was no accident -- Huey Long wanted to make sure that all
the business and employment associated with ocean-going shipping from
the Mississippi Basin stayed in Louisiana.  Thus, for ocean-going
vessels, Baton Rouge is the head of navigation.

But there's so way she could make it up the river, even if no bridges
were in the way.

The Army Corps of Engineers maintains a navigation channel to a minimum
depth of nine feet throughout the rest of the river, as far north as St.
Anthony's Falls in Minneapolis.  The draft of the USS Iowa at launch was
37 feet, nine inches.  

The maximum length of the locks on the Mississippi is 600 feet.  The
length of the Iowa is just over 887 feet.

The maximum width of the locks on the Mississippi is 110 feet.  The beam
of the Iowa is 108 feet, 2 inches.  Even if she were short enough to fit
in the locks, and her draft were shallow enough to get to the locks,
they'd have to maneuver her into the locks, against the current, with
eleven inches clearance on either side.  I wouldn't want to try it!

Jim O'Briant
Tubist & River Lore Nut
Gilroy, CA