“The Mississippi River can be divided into three sections. The Upper Mississippi refers to the river from its headwaters to the confluence with the Missouri River. The Middle Mississippi is that part downriver from the Missouri to the Ohio River. And the Lower Mississippi flows from the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River
The Mississippi River has 29 locks on it mostly in the Upper Mississippi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...sissippi_River
Many of these are Flash locks (See attached photo) which are like steps. While it would be possible for one end to left open, you still need the a working lock to pump the in or out to go up or down. I am thinking there are safety locks that prevent both ends from being opened.
The locks are operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) no history of them in TW2000 so anything could have happened to them? MILGOV Asset?
I am not sure if any of the locks would have damaged by EMP? The locks seem to away from major strikes? I think it would be more likely that workers would have melted away after the nuclear strikes
There are also a few major cities along the Mississippi that would be damaged and would create hazards to navigation. There are also a number of bridge that could pose the same hazards.
Somthing thing to think about