The importance of US waterways

Traditionally, when it comes to transporting cargo around the country, trains and trucks are the options that first leap to mind. However, neither of these options are arguably as efficient as using America's inland waterways.

Barges and boats transport 625 million tons of cargo over 12,000 miles of waterways every year across the US, and with a single 15-tow barge transporting the same amount as 870 tractor-trailers it makes financial sense to opt for waterway systems.

There's just one problem...

America's inland waterway systems are in a state of disrepair, despite their importance to the US economy.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Recognising their importance, the US Army Corps of Engineers is working to replace the system implementing a number of construction projects to stop the waterways being abandoned. The Corps manage the nation's 257 locks and dams, but at the end of the day, many are way past their 50 to 60 year service life.

According to a recent 'Report Card' study for American Infrastructure, of the country's locks, 30 of them were built in the 1800s whilst another 92 were more than 60 years old. Not just that, but the report also rated the condition of America's waterways a grade of D- and estimated that the cost to replace and upgrade the system would cost in excess of $125 billion.

One of the largest 'lock replacement' projects being undertaken by the Corps, is upgrading the McAlpine lock on the Ohio River (that took 10 years to build) and the Olmstead Lock and Dam, one of the busiest locks in the US and is replacing locks 52 and 53.

The locks see 96 million tons of cargo, including coal and grain, move through them and over the dam each year. Built in the 1920s, locks 52 and 53 are two of the oldest structures on the inland waterways system. If they were to ever fail, it would have a catastrophic chain reaction causing more than $300 million in losses for companies, depending on how long they were down for repairs.

The Olmsted works include underwater foundation preparation, lift-in construction of the tainter gates and navigable pass shells for the dam, floating approach walls, directly connected hydraulic cylinder operation of the culvert valves, miter gates, tainter gates, and a central station to operate both the dam and the twin locks.

Depending on funding, the project should be completed by 2021.

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