By Associated Press - Thursday, March 28, 2019

ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) - The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway remains closed to traffic in north Mississippi after flooding left sandbars blocking the channel.

The Daily Times Leader of West Point reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates it needs at least $10 million to remove flood-deposited sediment.

Corps operations manager Justin Murphree says it will take three weeks to dredge an emergency channel through debris blocking the south entrance to a lock at Aberdeen. The waterway has been closed for about a month.

Emergency channels are only a stopgap, with the Corps needing money to return the waterway to its authorized depth and width.

Shallow water means manufacturer Southern Ionics in Columbus can’t fully load barges. Steelmaker Steel Dynamics can ship metal coils south to Mobile, but not north to an Arkansas customer.

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