Inland Navigation System Planning
Inland Navigation System Planning

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-04-30

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9780309074056

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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.

Applying Advanced Information Systems to Ports and Waterways Management
Applying Advanced Information Systems to Ports and Waterways Management

Author: Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-03-17

Total Pages: 67

ISBN-13: 0309173175

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The future safety of maritime transportation in the United States-a major factor in the nation's international trade and economic well-being-will depend heavily on the quality of port and waterways information systems. Many U.S. ports and waterways lack adequate information services, although certain elements of advanced systems are now available in some locations. Barriers to improvements in information systems include the division of responsibilities for waterways management among multiple agencies at all levels of government, a lack of coordination among the federal agencies responsible for waterways management, inadequate budgets for some critical maritime programs, the high costs of some specialized technologies, stakeholder opposition to user fees, limited access to certain key data, the incompatibility of many independently developed systems, and the absence of standards for some attractive technologies. In this report, the second phase of a three-year study by the Committee on Maritime Advanced Information Systems of the National Research Council, a strategy is presented for overcoming the major barriers and deficiencies and providing a minimum level of maritime safety information nationwide. In this phase of the study, the committee concentrated on maritime information systems that promote safety, which is the area of greatest need. The committee did not examine in detail the relationship between navigation safety and maritime transportation efficiency or evaluate information systems that promote efficiency; the committee believes, however, that these issues deserve further attention.