By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Police in central Missouri believe a runaway barge has run aground about 21 miles upriver from Jefferson City and is no longer a threat to a major bridge.
Police in the capital city were ready to shut down the U.S. 63 bridge over the swollen waterway as a precaution.
But state highway officials say the abandoned barge has been located near Sandy Hook, where it apparently ran aground. A tugboat was sent to get the barge, which was one of two that broke loose in the river at Glasgow last night.
The vessel passed bridges at Boonville and along Interstate 70 bridge west of Columbia.
The Missouri Water Patrol corralled the other barge, a defunct restaurant, near Arrow Rock early today. The other was an empty fuel barge.
Transportation officials and police said there was no longer a threat, so the bridge into Jefferson City should remain open.