The Challenge to Modernize the U.S. Inland Waterways

This paper examines the vital role the inland waterways play in U.S. domestic and foreign commerce. The inland waterway system allows the competitive movement of huge quantities of liquid and dry bulk cargoes between deepwater ports and distant points of production or consumption in the nation's interior. The federal government has taken the lead to develop and maintain our inland waterways infrastructure through a combination of dredging, river training works, and navigation locks and dams. But nearly half of these locks and dams now exceed their 50-year design lives. At the same time traffic has continued to grow and there is a need for larger replacement locks at many locations. Further, as the system ages the need for maintenance increases. But federal budget constraints have postponed critical maintenance. The queue of new or replacement lock projects awaiting construction continues to grow and schedules of many projects now underway are being stretched, increasing congestion and reducing project benefits. This paper focuses on concerns for the physical integrity and the decline in funding of a critical intermodal transportation link for commercial traffic between U.S. coastal ports and inland origins and destinations.