The Mississippi River, America’s most important inland waterway, moves essential commodities to market, including most grain exports, at lowest cost. Wild shifts in this mighty river’s water levels have often caused national concern and uncertainty. But a newly crafted digital twin, designed to monitor and simulate river behavior and operations, reveals trouble spots. A Digital Twin of Ports and Channels Helps Army Corps Maintain US Waterways In 2019, record precipitation kept the river above flood stage for more than 235 days. Then in summer 2022, water levels fell 11 feet below average because of protracted drought. Low levels caused barges to run aground and forced vessels to carry less cargo. Trucks had to take on loads in some spots. As freight costs rose, difficulties moving goods to market drove down the domestic price of grain and farmers faced losses. 174 A Mississippi River barge passes the famous arch in downtown Saint Louis, Missouri.
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