1.   Having lightened its load, crews hoped to float the barge out to sea Tuesday.

2.   But if dredging funds are slashed, river traffic will decrease because floating a barge becomes a gamble, said spokesman Pat Robbins of the Corps of Engineers.

3.   But the recent rain has provided sufficient water to float the barges without a water release, Corps officials at Mobile District headquarters said this week.

4.   Henderson expressed deep concern about a number of technical issues, including a proposal to float several barges in Wassaw Sound to serve as a temporary marina.

5.   It released just enough water to float the barge one way.

6.   Those states have launched legal and political battles to bottle up more of the Missouri in the lakes during droughts, making the channel too shallow to float barges.