Beardstown, IL – A new barge terminal in Beardstown could be shipping out grain next month.
The terminal is being built by American Inland Ports.
Cass County economic developer Steve Twaddle says it could be shipping bulk grain by November.
He says the firm plans to have facilities for unloading steel shipping containers by next August.
He says the operation could increase Beardstown's importance as a barge terminal because it is the farthest north port on the Illinois River to rarely be closed due to ice.
Twaddle says this would let a new port south of New Orleans take containers from ocean-going ships and load them on barges for shipment north.
He says this would greatly reduce the cost because sending the containers north on railroads or trucks is much more expensive.
The operation could be helped by recent U.S. Senate passage of the Water Resources Development Act.
If it is signed by the President, it calls for a larger lock and some additional mooring stations at the LaGrange lock eight miles south of Beardstown.
Twaddle says this would make it easier for longer barge tows to reach the Beardstown container facility.