Mississippi Lock 19, Keokuk
Barge tows locking through one of the longest locks on the Mississippi, at Keokuk, Iowa — trains too.
About this view
A live webcam on Lock and Dam 19 at Keokuk, where the Mississippi drops through one of the longest locks on the river: a chamber 1,200 feet long, built to pass a full fifteen-barge tow in one lift. The dam beside it stretches nearly a mile across the water and dates from 1913.
Tows are the show — a towboat pushing a raft of barges the size of a city block, easing into the chamber with a few feet to spare, then the slow drain or fill and the gates swinging open. Between them come pleasure boats, and freight trains along the bank, which the camera catches too.
Traffic runs through the navigation season, roughly March to December (UTC−6, −5 in summer); the river freezes the locks shut in a hard winter. When the powerhouse opened in 1913 it was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, and the whole site is now a historic district.
Nearby cams
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the Mississippi Lock 19, Keokuk live cam located?
- The camera looks over Keokuk, Iowa, in United States. Its position is 40.396°N, 91.375°W, which you can open on our world map.
- What time is it at the Mississippi Lock 19, Keokuk camera?
- Keokuk, Iowa runs on UTC−5, and the live clock at the top of this page shows the current local time and whether it is day or night there. It is worth checking before you watch: this view changes completely between the middle of the night and the busiest hours of the day.
- Are there other live cams near Keokuk, Iowa?
- Yes — the closest ones are Kansas City, Chicago Midway Airport and Skydeck, Willis Tower. They are listed under "Nearby cams" further down this page, and every camera we carry is plotted on the world map.
- Is this stream really live?
- Yes. This is a real 24/7 live feed broadcast by StreamTime Live, played through the official YouTube player — free, no account needed. Every stream in our catalogue is checked automatically before each update to confirm it is still live and watchable.
