NR 15-029: Media invited to tour Motor Vessel Mississippi in Nashville

Published Aug. 10, 2015

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 10, 2015) – The media is invited to tour the Motor Vessel MISSISSIPPI when it is docked at Riverfront in Nashville 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. Aug. 12.  The vessel is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ largest diesel towboat and flagship to the Mississippi River Commission, which is inspecting Corps of Engineers projects along the Cumberland River as part of the commission’s annual low water inspection trip.

The media will have an opportunity to interview a member of the commission and those who want can also ride on the vessel from Nashville to Cheatham Lock in Ashland City.  Media who plan to have a reporter and/or videographer ride on the M/V MISSISSIPPI should call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Public Affairs Office at 615-736-7161 or e-mail chief.public-affairs@usace.army.mil to confirm and to let the Corps know if transportation is needed back to Nashville following the voyage.

The commission will travel the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio rivers Saturday, Aug. 8 through Friday, Aug. 14, with stops in the following locations to experience dialogue sessions with partners and stakeholders: Chattanooga, Tenn., Decatur, Ala., Clarksville, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., Kentucky Lock, Ky., and Olmstead Lock.

Composed of seven members, each is nominated by the president of the United States and vetted by the senate. Three of the organization's members are officers of the Corps of Engineers; one member is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and three members are civilians, two of whom are civil engineers.  They are Maj. Gen. Michael C. Wehr, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division and president-nominee of the commission; Honorable Sam E. Angel, Lake Village Ark.; Honorable R. D. James, New Madrid, Mo.; Honorable Norma Jean Mattai, Ph.D., Metairie, La.; Rear Adm. Gerd F. Glang, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director, Silver Springs, Md.; Brig. Gen. Richard G. Kaiser, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division commander, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Brig. Gen. John S. Kem, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division commander, Portland, Ore.

The general duties of the MRC include the recommendation of policy and work flood control, navigation, and environmental projects on the Mississippi River, programs, the study of and reporting on the necessity for modifications to and conducting semiannual inspection trips and public hearings at various locations along the river. The work of the MRC is directed by its president and carried out by Army engineer districts from the watershed.

Since 1879, the seven-member presidentially appointed Mississippi River Commission has developed and matured plans for the general improvement of the Mississippi River from its headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minn., to Head of Passes, La., where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The commission brings critical engineering representation to the drainage basin, which impacts 41 percent of the United States and includes 1.25 million square miles, over 250 tributaries, 31 states and two Canadian provinces.

The M/V MISSISSIPPI spends more than 90 percent of its time as a working towboat, moving barges, equipment and supplies on the lower Mississippi River.  The M/V MISSISSIPPI, built in 1993 by Halter Marine, is the fifth Army Corps of Engineers towboat to bear the name.  It is the largest diesel towboat in the United States at 241-feet long, 58-feet wide and five stories high.  Three 2,100-horsepower diesel engines power the vessel.

(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps, and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)


Contact
Bill Peoples
615-736-7161
chief.public-affairs@usace.army.mil
or
Lee Roberts
615-736-7161
chief.public-affairs@usace.army.mil

Release no. 15-029