Inland waterways of the United States

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Inland Waterway Connection
The inland and intracoastal waterways of the eastern United States

The inland waterways of the United States include more than 25,000 mi (40,000 km) of navigable waters. Much of the commercially important waterways of the United States consist of the Mississippi River System—the Mississippi River and connecting waterways.

Extent

The Columbia River is the only river on the West Coast (and arguably the entire North American Pacific coast) that is navigable for a significant length. The river is regularly dredged, and freight barges may reach as far inland as Lewiston, Idaho, through a system of locks; however, there are strict draft restrictions beyond the confluence with the Willamette River. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the Snake River, and the Umpqua River are examples of other West Coast rivers that are dredged for navigation. The steep grades and variable flows of most other West Coast rivers make them unsuitable for large boat travel. Also, most large rivers there are dammed, often in multiple places, to supply water for hydroelectricity production and other uses. Mountainous terrain and a shortage of water make canals in the West infeasible as well.

Most navigable

Saint Lawrence Seaway. Many other eastern rivers are navigable as well, including the Potomac, the Hudson, and the Atchafalaya rivers, which are all dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers
.

Navigable waters included in legal definition

Title 33 of the United States Code and 33 CFR [1] define the "navigable waters of the United States" and apply certain laws and regulations to those waters, including the principle of navigable servitude. This determination is made by a combination of waters explicitly listed in the law, and general definitions that mean certain waters might or might not be included depending on various factual determinations (such as being "navigable in fact" and the history of use) by the Army Corps of Engineers. Not all waters have had these facts determined, and so are of uncertain status. All water subject to tides are included.

Note that the "Navigable Waters of the United States" listed in 33 CFR 329 are different than those listed as "Waters of the United States" in 33 CFR 328, which is the Clean Water Rule. However, all Navigable Waters, plus those considered navigable-in-fact are included in the general "Waters" definition.[1]

Map of the all-water route from the Mississippi to New York and the eastern Atlantic, 1885
Map of the all-water route from the Mississippi to New York and the eastern Atlantic, 1885

New England district

Vermont waters have been surveyed thoroughly, but the other New England states have some waters of indeterminate status.[2] Flowing waters are navigable from the mouth to source, or mouth to specified point, unless otherwise noted.

Though navigable-in-fact, parts or all of the following have been excluded from the definition by Congress:

Efficiency

A principal value of the inland waterways is their ability to efficiently convey large volumes of bulk commodities moving long distances.

tractor-trailer
trucks. If the cargo transported on the inland waterways each year had to be moved by another mode, it would take an additional 6.3 million rail cars or 25.2 million trucks to carry the load.

The ability to move more cargo per shipment makes barge transport both

railway, and 514 mi (827 km) by barge. Carbon dioxide emissions from water transportation were 10 million metric tons less in 1997 than if rail transportation had been used. Inland waterways allow tremendous savings in fuel consumption, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
, reduced traffic congestion, fewer accidents on railways and highways, and less noise and disruption in cities and towns.

Commodities

Barges are well suited for the movement of large quantities of bulk commodities and raw materials at relatively low cost. The inland and intracoastal waterway system handles about 630 million tons of cargo annually, or about 17 percent of all intercity freight by volume.[citation needed] These are raw materials or primary manufactured products that are typically stored for further processing or consumption, or transshipped for overseas markets.

  1. Coal is the largest commodity by volume moving on the inland waterways. The country's electric utility industry depends on the inland waterways for more than 20 percent of the coal they consume to produce electricity.
  2. crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heavy fuel oils and asphalt
    .
  3. Another large group includes grain and other farm products, most of which moves by waterway to ports on the Lower Mississippi River or Columbia River for export overseas. Sixty percent of the country's farm exports travel through inland waterways.
  4. Other major commodities include
    chemicals, including fertilizers; metal ores, minerals and products, such as steel
    ; and many other manufacturers products.

Economic value

Inland and intracoastal waterways directly serve 38 states throughout the nation's heartland as well as the states on the

Ohio Valley especially depend on the inland and intracoastal waterways. Texas and Louisiana each ship more than $10 billion worth of cargo annually, while Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Washington state each ship between $2 billion and $10 billion annually. Another eight states ship at least $1 billion annually. According to research by the Tennessee Valley Authority
, this cargo moves at an average transportation savings of $10.67 per ton over the cost of shipping by alternative modes. This translates into over $7 billion annually in transportation savings to the economy of the United States.

Maintenance and modernization

The

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is responsible for 12,000 mi (19,000 km) of the waterways. This figure includes the Intracoastal Waterway. Most of the commercially important inland waterways are maintained by the USACE, including 11,000 mi (18,000 km) of fuel taxed
waterways. Commercial operators on these designated waterways pay a fuel tax, deposited in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which funds half the cost of new construction and major rehabilitation of the inland waterways infrastructure.

The nearly 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of U.S. inland and intracoastal waterways maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers includes 191 commercially active

towboat
, while the 600-foot (180 m) locks can accommodate at most eight barges plus the towboat. The lock size and tow size are critical factors in the amount of cargo that can pass through a lock in a given period of time.

More than 50 percent of the locks and dams operated by the Army Corps of Engineers are over 50 years old. Many of the 600-foot (180 m) locks on the system were built in the 1930s or earlier, including those on the Ohio, Upper Mississippi, Illinois and Tennessee rivers. These projects are approaching the end of their design lives and are in need of modernization or major rehabilitation. Since many of today's tows operate with 12 or more barges, passing through a 600-foot (180 m) lock requires the tow to be "cut" into two sections to pass the lock. Such multiple cuts can be time-consuming and cause long queues of tows waiting for their turn to move through the lock.

In the 1960s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to modernize the locks on the Ohio River and added 1,200-foot (370 m) chambers that permit a typical tow to pass in a single lockage. This modernization process continues today with the construction of a new dam with twin 1,200-foot (370 m) locks at Olmsted, Illinois, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and a second 1,200-foot (370 m) chamber at McAlpine Locks and Dam near Louisville. Modern 1,200-foot (370 m) chambers are also being constructed at Kentucky Lock on the Tennessee River and at the Inner Harbor Lock on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at New Orleans. Other projects are underway in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Arkansas. In addition, several major rehabilitations are underway. Altogether, this ongoing work represents an investment of over $3.5 billion in inland waterway modernization that will be completed over the next decade. Half this investment will come from fuel taxes paid by the inland towing industry. These projects include not only modern navigation facilities, but also important investments in environmental restoration and management.

Several key navigation improvement feasibility studies are underway throughout the inland waterway system, including on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway, Ohio River, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Black Warrior River and the Tennessee River. Over the next few years, these studies will identify the navigation and natural environmental actions needed to support the inland waterway system. While annual capital spending for the inland waterway system has averaged about $170 million in recent years, the income stream from fuel tax revenues can support an annual capital investment program of about $250 million without reducing the surplus in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, whose balance was $385 million at the end of 1999.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2017-05-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/regulatory/JurisdictionalLimits/US_Navigable_Waters.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 52
  4. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 54
  5. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 56
  6. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 59f
  7. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 58
  8. ^ 33 USC 59
  9. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 59a
  10. ^ 33 U.S.C. § 59p

Sources

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