🔍 Key Concepts

• Mississippi River channel maintenance standards used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • Typical minimum project depths for major commercial barge routes on inland rivers • Difference between depths used for small craft vs. deep‑draft commercial traffic

💭 Think About

• Think about what size and draft of vessels regularly operate between Cairo and Baton Rouge and what depth they would reasonably require, even at low water. • Consider whether 9 feet would be adequate for large towboats with multiple loaded barges, or whether something deeper is typically maintained. • Ask yourself: is 18 feet more typical of deep‑draft ocean ports, or are inland river channels usually maintained shallower than that?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify the typical project depth the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists for the Mississippi River reach from Cairo to Baton Rouge. • Check whether any of the options seems clearly too shallow for heavy barge traffic or clearly too deep for an inland river channel. • Confirm that you are thinking about maintained channel depth at low water, not average or high‑water depths.