Article by THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 2019-08-28 19:27:06 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a study that quantifies the cost-savings and competitive advantages that would accrue from investing in long-delayed improvements to inland waterways locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River system. The study, Importance of Inland Waterways to U.S. Agriculture, addresses the […]
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) today announced the designation of nine Marine Highway Projects and a Marine Highway Route that will benefit Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington State and American Samoa. Marine highways are navigable waterways that can be used as alternate options to traditional […]
The Mississippi River has been swollen for several months, disrupting commerce up and down its 2,300-plus miles. Historic flooding has ruined billions of dollars worth of crops and farmland in the Midwest, and the damage has been spreading downstream, all the way to Louisiana. The flooding has also damaged levees, dams, bridges and roads, putting […]
For months, farmers and ranchers along the Missouri River from eastern Nebraska through western Iowa haven’t been able to rebound from major flooding that destroyed billions of dollars of crops, cattle and property. The flooding situation has worsened due to heavy mid-spring rains that caused the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries from St. […]
The Mississippi River is a critical corridor for transportation of agricultural products and, in turn, is critical to the economies of the states that utilize the river to transport these trade goods. The report assesses the total impact of lock and dam closures along the Upper Mississippi River and then demonstrates how the cost the closures, or improvements designed to mitigate their impact on the highway side, compare with the cost of improving Upper Mississippi River control structures.
MAFC Program Administrator, Ernest Perry, PhD, testified last week to members of the Assembly Transportation Committee for the State of Wisconsin in support of continued funding for the Harbor Assistance Program (HAP). In his statement, Perry emphasized a multiagency effort that has been taking place for over three years to to increase the freight and […]
Marine freight, ports, modal diversion, marine highways, OSOW, Great Lakes, Mississippi River
Introduction By: Aaron Jermier, Ernie Perry, Ben Zietlow, Teresa Adams The MAFC region contains 5,610 miles (22.2% of U.S. total) of navigable inland waterways and is the largest user of the Great Lakes to move freight. Every MAFC state has direct water access to world markets via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and […]
MAFC program manager Ernie Perry has been invited to serve on the Advisory Group for the M-35 (Waterway of the Saints) Marine Highway. The Advisory Group consists of representatives from various stakeholder groups, including industry sectors, federal agencies, local governments, regional planning agencies, labor groups, academia, and environmental and flood control interests. The representatives will serve in […]
A recent issue of the Great Laker published an article by MAFC Program Manager Ernie Perry that was based on the results of Phase 1 of the Wisconsin Commercial Port Development Initiative (WCPDI) conducted by Perry and a CFIRE research team. This article outlined the five key elements for strategic port planning: Get everyone on board. Consider […]
