Department of Transportation projects a steady increase in river cargo traffic over the next 25 years. Yet according to the ASCE, the total capital investment needed over the next 20 years is estimated at an annual average of nearly $900 million-more than 10 times the available revenue. It is currently supported by a $0.20 per gallon tax on barge fuel, and expenditures cannot exceed revenues in a given year. The Inland Waterways Trust Fund’s current tax revenues are about $85 million per year. Yet despite this situation, the equivalent of about 51 million truck trips worth of cargo are transported each year on U.S. Projects to repair and replace aging locks and dredge channels take decades to approve and complete, exacerbating the problem further. The report noted that there is an average of 52 service interruptions a day throughout the inland waterway system. Inland waterways received the lowest score, a D. The most recent report was issued last year. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issues a report on America’s infrastructure every four years providing a comprehensive assessment of current infrastructure conditions and needs, both assigning grades and making recommendations for improvement. Together with the dredges, the Corps expects to continue maintenance dredging into the fall. The Corps is using two channel survey boats to continue looking for shallow areas in the coming weeks. The closure was a heavy strain and the Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and shipping industry will need to work together cooperatively to learn from the situation and improve future response, Nelson noted.
“The Coast Guard is working with vessels that are 60 to 65-years-old while they are out trying to keep up the buoy system,” Nelson said. “That can be too long under these sorts of conditions.”īetter funding commitments are needed for the Corps and Coast Guard, according to Nelson, who sees the two organizations as financially hampered in their efforts. “The expedited (process) takes three weeks to get through the contract bidding process,” Nelson said.
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