you were say iing that you were working hard moving around from spot to spot to keep this river channel deep enough and wide enough for the barges. you were tell iing me that the real challenge is in the ports. >> correct, john. the corps of engineers takes that debris off the bottom and transports it to keep the channel open. the river is naf gatable. but the real issues are the ports. they are suffering tremendously with some of them even closing. >> reporter: closing because the water is so shallow. >> it's so shallow they can't get the barges and vessels in and out. we're using other vessels to dredge those. it's very difficult and shallow. >> reporter: and talk about the traffic on the river are there areas where the barges have to have less of a load so the