Traffic was halted on part of the Mississippi River after a vessel towing 30 barges hit a bridge and several barges broke loose with at least two of them sinking.
The barges were loaded with grain when the incident occurred near Thebes, Illinois.
US Coast Guard (USCG) closed the river to all but authorized vessels between mile markers 44 (near Thebes) and 20 (near Roth, Illinois) after the tow vessel Michael G. Morris came into contact with the Thebes Railroad Bridge.
One of the sunken barges went down near the railroad bridge, the other near mile marker 44.
After a brief closure for safety inspection the railroad bridge was reopened to traffic.
USCG is cooperating with the owner of the barges and the US Army Corps of Engineers on the salvage operation.
There were no injuries reported.
USCG will investigate the cause of the incident.
In January there was a spate of incidents in which tugboats and barges ran into bridges on the Mississippi.
One of the main factors in those incidents was the high water levels and quick currents that followed storms and flooding in the Midwest of the US.
