Barge traffic on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg was ordered limited this morning as the water level continued to rise, up three-tenths of a foot since Monday morning.

Meanwhile, preparations remained on track for City Front, and the Muddy Bayou Control Structure was to open today to add water to Eagle Lake.

The river stage was at 41.4 feet this morning. Forecasts of a 43-foot crest a week from today were holding despite a chance of rain over the weekend near Arkansas City, said Marty Pope, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson.

“The five-day models have a little over an inch,” Pope said, adding it would take substantially more rain in areas upriver to adjust the crest at this point. “An inch to an inch and a half isn’t enough to do that.”

A 43-foot crest would be the third official river flood in Vicksburg in four years. In 2008, stages topped out at 50.9 feet — the highest in Vicksburg in 35 years — and in 2009, it crested at 47.5 feet.

In limiting barge traffic, the U.S. Coast Guard at midmorning said southbound tows are restricted to a maximum of 36 barges during daylight hours.

The limitations are a precaution against the faster river currents breaking barges loose and causing them to strike such structures as the U.S. 80 bridge at Vicksburg or other river traffic.