Infrastructure of America's Inland Waterways
Infrastructure of America's Inland Waterways

Author: Joanne Mattern

Publisher: Mitchell Lane

Published: 2019-07-04

Total Pages: 78

ISBN-13: 1545745609

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Rivers have tumbled down mountains and floated lazily through flat plains in the US since long before Europeans first came to this continent. They were the only highways Native Americans used or needed. Even America’s first settlers found it much easier to travel on the waterways than to build roads through the forests. Today our inland waterways carry millions of tons of cargo each year. But our waterways have not received the attention needed to continue their important role in the commerce of our country. Waterways infrastructure such as locks, dams, channels, and levees need help. Many elements are old and need repair or replacement. Expanded infrastructure would allow the US to increase shipping on the waterways. Shipping via water has always been cheaper than shipping by land and remains so today. The US economy can only benefit from investment in our inland waterways.

The Globalization of American Infrastructure
The Globalization of American Infrastructure

Author: Matthew Heins

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-01-29

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1317282361

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This book gives an account of how the U.S. freight transportation system has been impacted and “globalized,” since the 1950s, by the presence of the shipping container. A globally standardized object, the container carries cargo moving in international trade, and it utilizes and fits within the existing transportation infrastructures of shipping, trucking and railroads. In this way it binds them together into a nearly seamless worldwide logistics network. This process occurs not only in ocean shipping and at ports, but also deep within national territories. In its dependence on existing infrastructural systems, though, the network of container movement as it pervades domestic space is shaped by the history and geography of the nation-state. This global network is not invariably imposed in a top-down manner—to a large degree, it is cobbled together out of national, regional and local systems. Heins describes this in the American context, examining the freight transportation infrastructures of railroads, trucking and inland waterways, and also the terminals where containers are transferred between train and truck. The book provides a detailed historical narrative, and is also theoretically informed by the contemporary literature on infrastructure and globalization.

Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure
Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastructure

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 0309264790

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Over the past century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has built a vast network of water management infrastructure that includes approximately 700 dams, 14,000 miles of levees, 12,000 miles of river navigation channels and control structures, harbors and ports, and other facilities. Historically, the construction of new infrastructure dominated the Corps' water resources budget and activities. Today, national water needs and priorities increasingly are shifting to operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, much of which has exceeded its design life. However, since the mid-1980s federal funding for new project construction and major rehabilitation has declined steadily. As a result, much of the Corps' water resources infrastructure is deteriorating and wearing out faster than it is being replaced. Corps of Engineers Water Resources Infrastrucutre: Deterioration, Investment, or Divestment? explores the status of operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of Corps water resources infrastructure, and identifies options for the Corps and the nation in setting maintenance and rehabilitation priorities.

Inland Navigation System Planning
Inland Navigation System Planning

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-03-30

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 0309183170

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In 1988, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began an investigation of the benefits and costs of extending several locks on the lower portion of the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) in order to relieve increasing waterway congestion, particularly for grain moving to New Orleans for export. With passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, Congress required that the Corps conduct a benefit-cost analysis as part of its water resources project planning; Congress will fund water resources projects only if a project's benefits exceed its costs. As economic analysis generally, and benefit-cost analysis in particular, has become more sophisticated, and as environmental and social considerations and analysis have become more important, Corps planning studies have grown in size and complexity. The difficulty in commensurating market and nonmarket costs and benefits also presents the Corps with a significant challenge. The Corps' analysis of the UMR-IWW has extended over a decade, has cost roughly $50 million, and has involved consultations with other federal agencies, state conservation agencies, and local citizens. The analysis has included many consultants and has produced dozens of reports. In February 2000, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requested that the National Academies review the Corps' final feasibility report. After discussions and negotiations with DOD, in April 2000 the National Academies launched this review and appointed an expert committee to carry it out.

River Republic
River Republic

Author: Daniel McCool

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2012-08-07

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 0231504411

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Daniel McCool not only chronicles the history of water development agencies in America and the way in which special interests have abused rather than preserved the country's rivers, he also narrates the second, brighter act in this ongoing story: the surging, grassroots movement to bring these rivers back to life and ensure they remain pristine for future generations. The culmination of ten years of research and observation, McCool's book confirms the surprising news that America's rivers are indeed returning to a healthier, free-flowing condition. The politics of river restoration demonstrates how strong grassroots movements can challenge entrenched powers and win. Through passion and dedication, ordinary people are reclaiming the American landscape, forming a "river republic" of concerned citizens from all backgrounds and sectors of society. As McCool shows, the history, culture, and fate of America is tied to its rivers, and their restoration is a microcosm mirroring American beliefs, livelihoods, and an increasing awareness of what two hundred years of environmental degradation can do. McCool profiles the individuals he calls "instigators," who initiated the fight for these waterways and, despite enormous odds, have succeeded in the near-impossible task of challenging and changing the status quo. Part I of the volume recounts the history of America's relationship to its rivers; part II describes how and why Americans "parted" them out, destroying their essence and diminishing their value; and part III shows how society can live in harmony with its waterways while restoring their well-being—and, by extension, the well-being of those who depend on them.

2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure
2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

Author: American Society of Civil Engineers

Publisher: ASCE Publications

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 9780784410370

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Details the rationale behind grades in 15 categories as announced by ASCE. This book presents an analysis of each category, an assessment of your state's status, case studies of successful projects, suggestions for actions you can take and ways you can get involved, and more.