Corps Assessment Of Cargo Traffic Through Chicago Waterway

Dec 7: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released the Baseline Assessment of Cargo Traffic on the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS), an interim product of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). According to an announcement, the assessment is intended to present commodity traffic data, as it relates to its movement into CAWS, through CAWS and within CAWS. The report also details commodity traffic and commodity group traffic through the CAWS locks, relative to the CAWS and the overall Illinois Waterway passing through the Lockport Lock and Dam, the Thomas J. O'Brien Lock and Dam and the Chicago Harbor Lock and Dam; historic traffic trends; consumers of the products and how they are typically used and how they generally move throughout the system.

    In September 2011, USACE released the Baseline Assessment of Non-Cargo CAWS Traffic, which assessed lock traffic by commercial passenger, recreational and governmental vessels. The data from these two reports will be used to develop navigation system models and waterway traffic forecasts in order to make the best potential recommendation for aquatic nuisance species controls on the waterway and, if necessary, mitigation measures. USACE said it will host a conference call January 5, 2012, at 10:00 AM (CST) for interested parties to ask questions on the Cargo Assessment.

    Access a link to the complete report, information on the conference call and other reports from the GLMRIS (click here). [#GLakes]

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