1. Inland Waterways: A Key Part of the U.S. Freight Transportation System
Presentation for Bob Pietrowsky
Third World Water Forum
Kyoto, Japan March 18, 2003
Inland Waterways: A Key Part of
the U.S. Freight Transportation System
5th World Water Forum
Istanbul, Turkey
March 17, 2009
Robert A. Pietrowsky
Director, Institute for Water Resources
& the International Center for
Integrated Water Resources Mgt.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

2. Link Between Multi-Purpose Water Use and Social Stability, Economic Security
Imagine a Place Where:
30% of owners and over 40% of tenants no toilets or outhouses
65% of owners and 80% of tenants have no access to clean water
95% of property owners and 98% of tenants have no electricity
Only 8% of homeowners and less than 3% tenants even own radios
More than 50% of owners and > 75% of tenants don’t read newspapers
More than 75% of owners and > 85% of tenants don’t own cars or trucks
Over 60% of the energy is provided from animals/horses and only 6% from electric power stations
More then 90% of households have no lighting
More then 90% of the households have no refrigeration – and routinely lose more then 25% of their perishable food to spoilage
Most people live on subsistence farming & most farming is on over-used soil
Flooding is serious and repetitive to both rural and urban areas cities
no access to clean water defined as having to go more than 300 yards for water

3. Tennessee Valley (TVA)
Imagine a Place Where:
THIS IS NOT A PART OF A DEVELOPING OR EMERGING NATION TODAY…
.. IT IS IN THE UNITED STATES
– THE TENNESSE VALLEY IN 1935
Tennessee Valley (TVA)

4. TVA as a Case Study: FDR …. “Best of private and public…”
Regional Authority with power –
authority for bonding & with
independence
Also a Federal Corporation
Broad economic and Social Development
- generate wealth, bring region out of poverty
Integration, planning, development, management based on basin
Three main areas of responsibility:
- Energy - Environment Economic Development

5. Colored area shows extent of TVA power service area.
Lighter tan is the watershed of the Tennessee River, which is navigable for 1049 km from the confluence with the Ohio upstream to the city of Knoxville.
Today the Tennessee River handles nearly 45 million metric tons (tonnes) of cargo annually.
The Cumberland River is also in the TVA service area. More than 612 km are navigable, with much of the commerce to and from industries around the city of Nashville, the state capital. Today the Cumberland handles over 20 million metric tons (tonnes) annually.
Utility plants, manufacturing facilities, and other industries have developed along both river systems (as shown). At the same time many communities benefit from the hydropower, water supply, flood protection, and extensive recreation opportunities made possible by the TVA plan.

6. In a Generation + Industrial production up over 500%
$5.4 Billion in flood damages prevent throughout the valley
Over 75% of homes with access to clean drinking water
Over 75% of homes with flush toilets and 85% with plumbing
Over 90% had electricity or gas energy sources
Literacy increased to almost 100%
Life expectancy increased to 70’s, ~ national average
– Small pox, malaria, typhoid largely eradicated
Median per capita incomes at national levels
Industrial production up over 500%
Almost 700 miles of navigable water links to sea – waterway
tonnage increased from 32 million ton-miles in 1933 to 161 million ton-miles in 1942.
Innovations in soil conservation, integrated watershed management, land use, non-structural flood mgt. & other areas

7. What TVA Does Supplies reliable, affordable power
62 power production sites including 29 hydropower dams
27,400 km (17,000 miles) of transmission lines
Serves 8.6 million people and 61 large industrial facilities
Supports a thriving river system
1049-km (652-mile) commercial navigation system
Over 45 million metric tonnes (50 million tons) of cargo annually
Some 100 public recreation areas
Municipal, industrial and agricultural water supply
Stimulates economic growth
Provides flood protection preventing millions of dollars in annual flood damage
Partner with public and private entities to promote commercial and industrial development
Community investment loans
Site development
Research, engineering and design services

8. An Integrated Approach
TVA operates the Tennessee River system to provide a wide range of public benefits: year-round navigation, flood damage reduction, affordable electricity, improved water quality and water supply, recreation, and economic growth.
Most reservoir projects in the United States were built for a single purpose, such as irrigation, power production, or water supply. The Tennessee River system is different. Its dams, locks, and reservoirs were designed specifically to operate as one system that meets many needs.
Every day, TVA balances these competing
– and sometimes conflicting – needs for
water in order to deliver the greatest value
for the people of the Tennessee Valley.
Chickamauga Lock
& Hydropower Dam

9. U.S. Federal Role in Waterway Transport
1824 – authority to clear snags and make improvements
Canal building era to mid-1800s (states)
Post Civil War – suction dredging, jetties
1885: 1st of 46 locks and dams on Ohio
1930s: Present system of locks constructed on Upper Miss, Illinois, Tennessee and other waterways
1950s: Construction starts on present-day higher lift locks on Ohio
1960s-70s: Navigation improvements to Columbia-Snake, Arkansas River
1985: Tenn-Tom Waterway completed
1994-Present: Upper Mississippi River & Illinois Waterway Navigation Study
Gibbons vs Ogden Federal right to regulate matters of interstate commerce, including navigation.
Daniel Ball case -the Federal government could regulate any river that was navigable.
the Select Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard determined that Rivers and Harbor act investments contributed to the national welfare.
Federal investments totaled $111 million (water spending was being used to help the post-Civil War economy).
1902 Reclamation Act – Federal money settled the West
1917 and 1936 Flood Control Acts – Federal money to solve local flood control problems
1930s droughts and floods

10. U.S. Federal Role in Waterway Transport
Water Resources
Development
Context
U.S. Federal Role in Waterway Transport
1824 – authority to clear snags and make improvements
Canal building era to mid-1800s (states)
Post Civil War – suction dredging, jetties
1885: 1st of 46 locks and dams on Ohio
1930s: Present system of locks constructed on Upper Miss, Illinois, Tennessee and other waterways
1950s: Construction starts on present-day higher lift locks on Ohio
1960s-70s: Navigation improvements to Columbia-Snake, Arkansas River
1985: Tenn-Tom Waterway completed
1994 – Present: Upper Mississippi River & Illinois Waterway Navigation Study
1824 – 1936: Nation Building
Era of primarily Single
Purpose Navigation Projects
1942 – Human Adjustment to Floods
1952 – Muddy Waters
1950s - droughts
1962 – Design of Water Resources Systems
1962 – Silent Spring
1960s – Drought in Mid-Atlantic, NAR Study
1969 – NEPA
1972 – Clean Water Act
1973 – Principles and Guidelines
1974 – Safe Drinking Water Act
1986 – WRDA ’86 Cost Sharing
1936 – 1986: Era of Economic
Efficiency focusing on
Multi-Purpose Projects
1969 – 1986: Era of Environmental
Enlightenment, focusing on
Multi-Objective Planning
1986 – Present: Beneficiary Pays
Era, evolving towards Integrated
Water Resources Management

11. National Strategy for the U.S. Marine Transportation System
U.S. National Strategy Goal
“The United States Marine Transportation System will be a safe, secure, and globally integrated network that, in harmony with the environment, ensures a free-flowing, seamless, and reliable movement of people and commerce along its waterways, sea lanes, and intermodal connections.”
The National Strategy for the MTS, July 2008
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterway Transport Mission
“Provide safe, reliable, efficient, effective & environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation systems for movement of commerce, national security needs, & recreation.”
USACE Civil Works Strategic Plan, March 2004
The problems are integrated, solutions are not.
Management responsibilities for problems that are physically integrated in a river basin are fragmented by agency missions and political boundaries.
The many disciplines required to analyze drought problems and develop and institute solutions are poorly coordinated.

12. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Activities
Water Resources Missions
Primary
Navigation
Flood Control & Shore
Protection
Ecosystem Restoration
Disaster Response &
Recovery
Allied Purposes
Hydropower
Environmental
Stewardship
Water Supply
Recreation
Regulatory Programs

13. United States Waterway Transport System
Supporting Global Competitiveness
25,000 miles (41,600 km) of navigable waterways
1,000 harbor channels
360 deepwater & shallow draft harbors
Connects 152,000 miles of rail & 45,000
miles of interstate highway
2.3 billion metric tons of trade
8.4 million seaport related jobs
$2 trillion to economy
Foreign trade 22% of Gross Domestic Product
The problems are integrated, solutions are not.
Management responsibilities for problems that are physically integrated in a river basin are fragmented by agency missions and political boundaries.
The many disciplines required to analyze drought problems and develop and institute solutions are poorly coordinated.
Global gateways & key liquid pathways to rest of US intermodal freight transportation system & the nation’s economic hinterlands

14. U.S. Inland Waterway System
Columbia
Snake
Mississippi
Illinois
Missouri
Arkansas
White
Ouachita
Red
Lower
Tenn-
Tom
Blk Warrior
Alabama
ACF
Tennessee
Cumberland
Ohio
Kanawha
Allegheny
Monongahela
Atlantic
Intracoastal
Waterway
Gulf
Upper
Kaskaskia
Green Ky
Willamette
Atchafalaya
Pearl
IWW
Nearly 19,300 km 2.7m & Over
198 Lock Sites / 241 Chambers
Moving Over 550 Million Tonnes
~2/3 Cost of Rail &1/10 the
cost of Truck
Okeechobee
Our 19,200 km inland and intracoastal waterway network is a vital component of our national freight transportation system.
This network depends on 198 locks, with 241 chambers, that provide the stair-steps to move cargo deep into the Nation’s interior – Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, even Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Lewiston, Idaho.
We estimate the replacement value of this infrastructure – if we had to rebuild it all today – would be in the neighborhood of $125 billion.
This system handles over 544 million metric tons (tonnes) of freight annually, keeping this traffic off our overcrowded highways and railroads, and barges move this cargo at about 2/3rds the cost of rail and about 1/10 the cost of truck.
Replacement Value $175+ Billion

15. And Waterway Characteristics
Lock Sizes
And Waterway Characteristics
Variations in capacity by waterway...
Lock sizes affect the capacities of different waterways.
The Lower Mississippi is open river with no locks, and wide and deep channels, that can handle tows with 30, 40 or even 50 barges in a single unit.
The 1200-foot locks on the Ohio generally handle 15-barge tows in a single lockage.
15-barge tows are common throughout the locked part of the U.S. Inland Waterway System.
Common 15-barge coal tow at
366 m (1200’) lock on Ohio River
Large mixed tows of over 30 barges are common on
open water stretches of the Lower Mississippi River

16. U.S. Waterborne Commerce by Type of Traffic
2.6 Billion Tons (2006)
60% Foreign Trade / 40% Domestic
Of Domestic: 61% Inland Waterway

17. Inland Waterway Commodities Share by Tons, 2006
Total 2006 Volume: 627 Million Tons
Coal
29%
Petro & Petro Prod
25%
Chemicals 8%
Crude Materials
19%
Primary
Manufactured 5%
Food & Farm Prod
12% 2%
All Others
<1%
Coal leads in tons
Coal for Power Plants
209 million metric tonnes (230 million tons) annual
20 % of utility coal supplied by waterway
U.S. waterways are very important to our power plants, many of which are deliberately located on the rivers in order to receive coal by water transport.
Over 50% of the electricity generated in the U.S. is produced from coal.
And about 20% of that coal moves along our inland waterways, on the Great Lakes, or in coastal shipments.
This helps keep electricity cost down for U.S. industries and the general public.

18. Inland Waterway Commodities Share by Ton-Mile, 2006
Grain Exports
Over 64 million metric tonnes (70 million tons) annually
Over 50% of soybean and corn exports move by barge
Farm leads
in ton-miles
Coal
22%
Petroleum
15%
Chemicals
10%
Raw Materials
18%
Primary
Manufactured 9%
Farm Products
26%
Other
<1%
The waterways move freight for a reason. Someone is shipping something somewhere. And that means jobs and income.
For farmers in the U.S. Midwest, it means low cost transportation for grain exports. It enables them to compete with farmers overseas for markets in Europe, Asia and around the world.
U.S. Soybean exports to China depend on our inland waterways.
So do U.S. Corn exports to Korea and Japan.
That helps our trade balance, which needs all the help it can get.
And low cost waterway transportation makes this trade possible.
Total: 280 Billion Ton-Miles

19. Waterways Role in the Nation’s Economy
Petroleum
327 million metric tonnes (360 million tons) annually between domestic points
21% of national total between reporting districts
Waterways are also critical for the movement of petroleum. About 327 million metric tons (tonnes) of crude petroleum and petroleum products move on U.S. inland waterways and in domestic shipments around the coast (333 million tonnes in 2007).
Many of our pipelines are at capacity and new pipelines are difficult to build in today’s environment.
About 21% of domestic petroleum shipments between Department of Energy Reporting Districts move by water.

20. U.S. Ports & Harbors System Ports handling >10 million metric tons (2006)
Anacortes
Seattle
Tacoma
Two Harbors
Portland
Duluth/Superior
Portland
Boston
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Chicago
New York/NJ
Richmond
Indiana Hbr
Lower Delaware
River
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Baltimore
Oakland
Most of this trade is handled by a few major ports in the nation.
Across the country, some 57 harbors handle over 10 million tons of total traffic annually – domestic and foreign.
3 port areas handled over 100 million total tons in 2000 –
South Louisiana – 218 million
Houston – 191 million
NY&NJ – 139 million
About 90 percent of our foreign trade is handled through just 30 ports, based on cargo value.
California ports handle about 13% of the nation’s waterborne foreign trade in terms of volume, but this figure jumps to about 33% based on cargo value.
Newport News
Huntington
St. Louis
Norfolk
Los Angeles
Long Beach
Memphis
Million
Metric Tons
Charleston
Over 100
Baton Rouge
Savannah
Lake Charles
Pascagoula
Jacksonville
Houston
Texas City
Mobile
Honolulu
Tampa
Freeport
Port Arthur
Plaquemines
Beaumont
New Orleans
Valdez
S. Louisiana
Corpus Christi
Port Everglades

21. Emerging U.S. Water Transport Challenges
Aging Infrastructure
Increasing Domestic & International Trade
System Capacity Problems
Constrained Funding
Need for Integrated Solutions to Water Resources Challenges
Navigation Systems
Environmental Restoration
Flood Management
Water Quantity & Quality

22. Growing Freight Demand in U.S.
Freight traffic expected to increase by 93% ( ) from 19 billion to 37 billion tons
Intermodal increases by 101%
Highway traffic grows 98% from 11.5 billion to 23 billion tons
Rail grows 88% from 1.8 to 3.5 billion tons
How will this cargo be moved?
Roads: Little room left to expand, especially in urban areas
Rail: mileage has been decreasing; much former right-of-way has been developed
Rail capacity constraints in urban areas, tunnel clearances, single-track bridges

23. U.S. Inland Waterway Alternative
More freight could shift to barge, if reliable
EU promotes waterways as environmentally-friendly alternative to highways and rail
Container-on-barge highly developed in Europe
Examples in US: Columbia-Snake; Gulf Coast service; Coastal movements along Atlantic
More in the future?
Inland Container Barge
Osprey Line 750 TEU
Tow on Mississippi River

24. Modal Efficiency of Waterway Transport
One 15-Barge Tow
1,050 Large Semi Tractor-Trailers
216 Rail Cars + 6 Locomotives
A clear advantage of barge transportation is its capacity.
A 15-barge tow is a common size on major waterways with locks (Ohio, Upper Miss, Illinois, Tennessee). Older barges drafting 2.7 meters can handle 1360 metric tons. Newer deeper barges that can handle loads of up to 1633 metric tons are being used increasingly across the system where depths permit.
Today a fully loaded 15-barge tow can handle the equivalent of some 216 rail hopper cars – or 1,050 large semi tractor-trailer trucks.
So every tow moving on the rivers is helping reduce the congestion, noise, safety hazards, and pollution from truck and rail.
Source: Texas Transp Inst., 2007

25. Inland Waterway Transport Conserves Fuel
Barge transportation is the most fuel efficient method of moving the raw materials needed by the nation.
How far one gallon of fuel
moves one ton of freight, average by mode…
Truck: 155
Rail: 413
As well as being high capacity and low cost, barge transportation is also the most fuel efficient method of moving bulk cargo.
It takes one gallon of fuel to move a ton of cargo 155 miles by truck, 413 miles by rail, and a very efficient 576 miles by barge.
The metric equivalent of this is: It takes one liter of fuel to move a tonne of cargo 66 km by truck, 176 km by rail, and a very efficient 245 km by barge.
Source: Texas Transportation Institute, 2007.
Barge: 576
100
200
300
400
500
600
Miles
Source: Texas Transp Inst., 2007

26. Integrated Water Resources Management
Past development allows Inland Waterway projects to serve a variety of purposes
Hydropower
Flood Protection
Environmental Restoration
Water Supply
Recreation
There are other challenges – and opportunities -- we face in managing the inland waterways.
Many of our projects are authorized for multiple purposes.
So managing the needs for navigation must be balanced against the needs of other purposes including:
Hydropower
Flood Damage Reduction
Environmental Stewardship and Restoration
Water Supply
And Recreation
We work hard to manage projects so that these purposes compliment each other.
But that isn’t always possible, and we increasingly find a need to seek compromises among the many stakeholders of these different waterway uses.

27. Contribution to Worldwide Initiatives
IWRM approaches, including Inland Waterway Transport, can help developing nations to achieve MDG’s
MDG 7
Ensure environmental sustainability
Inter-linkage with other MDG ‘s
MDG 1:
Eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger
MDG 6: Combat malaria and other water borne diseases
MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Phase VII will become operational from 2008 to It thus fits within the time frame of several worldwide initiatives, such as Millennium Development Goals (to be achieved by 2015).
This situation creates an unparalleled opportunity for IHP to contribute to this worldwide effort by providing the services of the science of hydrology integrated with other fields of science to the requirements of the planet’s needs.
Clearly there is a significant role for IHP to play in contributing to the achievement of the MDG. Ensure Environmental Sustainability is the primary one that IHP could contribute to, but in the proposed shape, IHP-VII would also contribute to others, such as....(1, 6, 8).

28. U.S. Waterway Transport - Summary
Provides safe, reliable, efficient, effective and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation systems for movement of commerce, national security needs, and recreation
Inland navigation handles over 600 million tons per year and is vital to the Nation’s economy
Many inland waterways in U.S. such as the Tennessee River, have been managed for multiple purposes including flood damage reduction, hydropower, water supply, environmental stewardship and recreation
Multi-purpose management requires an integrated approach to balance competing uses and to ensure environmental sustainability
Managed properly, inland waterways can contribute to Millennium Development Goals, including
Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Develop a Global Partnership for Development