INLAND WATERWAYS

AMERICAS (USA & CANADA)

Definition of Inland waterways
• Refers to the movement of cargo between one point and another
within the same country / or another country and sometimes passing
through another state using water bodies / rivers as the transport
route.

• This presentation will look at the inland waterways of the Americas

(USA & Canada).
Overview
• The USA’s 25,000 miles of inland waterways & 239 locks form the
freight network’s “water highway”, and this system is maintained by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
• The system supports more than half a million jobs and delivers more
than 600 million tonnes of cargo valued at over $73 billion each year
(about 14% of all domestic freight).
• The inland waterways are shared by only 38 states.
• Barge transport provides the most fuel-efficient way to move goods
on the ground; on a single gallon of fuel, a barge can move goods four
times farther than trucks.
Overview
• Inland waterways are vital to the nation’s agriculture industry, as 60%
of grain exports are moved by barge.
• In the energy sector, more than 22% of domestic petroleum and
petroleum products and 20% of coal used to generate electricity are
moved on the inland waterways.
Challenges
• Most locks and dams on the system are well beyond their 50-year design life,
and nearly half of vessels experience delays. Investment in the waterways
systems has increased in recent years, but upgrades on the system still take
decades to complete.
• For the industries that rely on the inland waterways to move their products,
this aging and unreliable system can be costly.
• A lock acts a an elevator for a cargo ship, making it easier for vessels to
navigate the uneven and inconsistent water levels of US rivers. When a ship
reaches a lock, gates open for the ship to enter the lock chamber. Once a ship
is within the lock, a valve either fills or empties the lock to bring the ship
level with the water on the other side of the opposite gate. The opposite gate
then opens for the ship to proceed.
The Eisenhower Locks in
Massena, New York
Major inland waterways of
North America
• The U.S. and Canadian networks of inland waterways are based on the great
navigable rivers of the continent linked by several major canals. Additionally, to
reduce the hazards of navigating the Atlantic seaboard and to shorten distances,
intracoastal waterways (protected routes paralleling the coast) have been
developed. The total inland U.S. system, including protected coastal routes,
approximates 25,000 miles, of which well over half has a minimum depth of
nine feet.
• The largest system is based on the Mississippi, which is navigable for about
1,800 miles from New Orleans to Minneapolis, and its vast system of tributaries.
This system connects with the St. Lawrence Seaway via Lake Michigan, the
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and the Illinois River and with the Atlantic coast
via the New York State Barge Canal (Erie Canal) and the Hudson River.
Major inland waterways of
North America
• The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals, and channels
in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to
travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as
far inland as the western end of Lake Superior. The seaway is named
for the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the
Atlantic Ocean.
• The seaway is important for American and Canadian international
trade. It handles 40–50 million annual tons of cargo. About 50% of
this cargo carried travels to and from international ports in Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa. The rest comprises coastal trade, or
short sea shipping, between various American and Canadian ports.
The Saint Lawrence Seaway
Major inland waterways of
North America
• The St. Marys River drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of
Whitefish Bay and flowing 74.5 miles (119.9 km) southeast into
Lake Huron, with a fall of 23 feet (7.0 m).[1] For its entire length it is an
international border, separating Michigan in the United States from
Ontario, Canada.
• The twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Sault Ste.
Marie, Michigan are connected across the St. Marys River by the
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. The St. Marys Rapids are just
below the river's exit from Lake Superior and can be bypassed by
huge freight ships through the man-made Soo Locks and the Sault Ste.
Marie Canal.
St Marys River (Michigan –
Ontario)
Benefits of the US Inland
Waterways
• 1. Barge transportation keeps America moving: more than 60% of the nation’s
grain exports, 22% of domestic petroleum and petroleum products, and 20% of
the coal used in electricity generation is moved on the nation’s waterways.

• 2. Congestion relief: just one 15-barge tow of dry bulk cargo keeps 1050 trucks
off the nation’s already over-crowded highways, or 216 railcars from blocking
railroad crossings.
• 3. Economic prosperity: the fact that 624 million tonnes of cargo moved annually
equals around $70 billion back into the US economy and is a volume equal to
around 14% of all intercity freight. Providing lower shipping costs, barge
transportation helps farmers to be more competitive in world markets, allows
building materials to move cheaper and keeps electricity rates lower.
Benefits of the US Inland
Waterways
• 4. Employment creation: farmers, utility workers, steel workers,
builders, shippers, tugboat crews, port workers, labourers, terminal
operators, and many others rely on the waterways transportation to
sustain good American jobs.

• 5. Cleaner air, fewer emissions: inland waterways transportation has

a lower carbon footprint and generates fewer carbon dioxide
emissions than rail or truck for each tonne of cargo compared to
transporting that same cargo by these other modes.
Benefits of the US Inland
Waterways
• 6. Energy efficient: barges can move one tonne of cargo 576 miles on
one gallon of fuel – 100 miles than rail transport and 400 miles more
than truck transport.

• 7. Multi-beneficiaries: the inland waterways system benefits many,

including those who use it for recreation, municipal and industrial water
supply, hydropower and flood control. Many communities along the
inland waterways benefit from economic development opportunities,
and private property owners enjoy higher property values because of
the steady pools of water created by locks and dams on the inland
waterways.
Benefits of the US Inland
Waterways
• 8. Community connections: the inland waterways system includes
12,000 miles of commercially navigable channels and around 240 lock
sites. America’s inland marine highways move commerce to and from 38
states throughout the nation’s heartland and Pacific Northwest, serve
industrial and agricultural centres and facilitate imports and exports at
gateway ports on the Gulf Coast.
• 9. Safety in numbers: inland waterways transport has a low injury and
fatality record compared to rail or truck.

• 10. Excess capacity: the navigable waterways system has an abundance

of unused capacity, unlike the truck or rail industries.
The future of Inland waterways
• Advantages of inland waterways transport are being maintained or enhanced by
modern techniques, that is:-

 more powerful towboats capable of hauling up to 50 barges carrying 80,000

tonnes.

Around-the-clock operation is made possible with towboats refueled in midstream.

Barges attached or detached while the tow proceeds along the river.

At ports, automatic loaders cut turnaround time to a minimum.

Other - definitions
• Draft – the depth of a waterway, which determines the size of a barge
or ship that can travel through it.

• Dredge – to excavate or deepen the bed of a harbour, river or other

area of water by scooping out sediment and moving it to a different
location. This technique is often used to keep waterways navigable.

• Lock chambers: an enclosure consisting of a section of canal that can

be closed to control the water level. It is used to raise or lower vessels
that through it.
The End