Waterways Council, Inc.

Vote now for our 2024 Photo Contest winners! We received nearly 200 amazing entries across four categories. There will be three winners/category! Explore the semifinalists & vote https://lnkd.in/eMiwTNAi Thank you to We Work The Waterways for coordinating the Photo Contest & The Waterways Journal - Weekly for partnering with us!

"Hey Team! We made the Journal!" Thank you to The Waterways Journal - Weekly for this beautiful ad for our Waterways Symposium, co-hosted by WJ, and WCI's Annual Membership and Board Meetings in San Antonio, November 13 - 15! Check out all the details and register to come together with the industry: https://lnkd.in/e5yfeyZs

Lock 14 Lower Federal Mooring Cell, located in Pool 15, UMR Mile 491.9, became available for use on September 25, 2024. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers- Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District mooring cell was part of a #NESP navigation upgrade. The project's goal is to allow vessels to tie up and wait closer to the lock, ultimately reducing the approach time to get into Lock 14.

The 2024 Annual Tennessee River Valley Association/ Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council Meeting was hosted yesterday in Franklin, TN. WCI Senior Vice President Deb Calhoun was present to speak and support the event. LTC Robert Green, USACE Nashville District Commander, reported on the Corps’ efforts post-Hurricane Helene and the progress at Kentucky Lock, the busiest lock on the inland system. [Photo 1: Cline Jones, TRVA Executive Director, and Deb Calhoun] [Photo 2: LTC Robert Green]

One small action where you are makes an impact for the whole inland waterways system. Think about it like this: every email/call/text/voicemail that gets sent gets recorded (like a tally mark). The more records (individual constituent support), the more time and consideration are given to a subject. Congress is putting together its Water Resources Development Act 2024. Send your House Representative an email supporting locks and dams. https://lnkd.in/gQ7Y-tv6

This Saturday, make a plan to stop by the USACE St. Paul District's Open House for Lock and Dam 9. Corps officials are hosting this free event, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., for people to get a behind the scenes view and understanding of how the lock provides safe and reliable transportation. https://lnkd.in/eVycsbFc [Lock 9 photo by Wendy Wells]

Why does NASA move things by water and not by truck? Arlan Cochran, NASA’s team leader for logistics, engineering and marine operations, said it’s because the heavy parts would damage the roads and there isn’t a truck long enough for the parts. 💪 #MarineMuscle Last month, NASA’S Pegasus Barge left Huntsville with a final destination down the Tennessee River: Kennedy Space Center. The Barge was carrying the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (cone-shaped hardware) for the Space Launch System (SLS). NASA said the adapter connects the rocket’s core stage to its upper stage and is crucial for protecting the engine that will power the Artemis II test flight around the moon in 2025. The Pegasus Barge is a transportation barge built for NASA in 1999 to ship the space shuttle’s external tanks to Florida. After the end of the shuttle program, the barge was refurbished and lengthened from 260 to 310 feet so it could be used in the SLS program to deliver the core stage and other components. https://lnkd.in/e6z6BrgY [Photo by NASA]

WCI President and CEO Tracy Zea and Senior Vice President Deb Calhoun enjoyed the opportunity to meet with WCI members in Arkansas and Oklahoma this week. We're grateful to work alongside and serve the inland Ports of Little Rock, Muskogee, and Tulsa as well as companies that utilize the inland waterways such as CF Industries moving fertilizer and Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co. moving construction materials! [Photo 1: Tracy Zea and David Yarbrough, PE, Executive Director, Tulsa Ports, at the port facility.] [Photo 2: CF Industries fertilizer barges at Port of Catoosa.] [Photo 3: Kimbra Scott, Port Director, Port Muskogee outlines the Port's facilities.] [Photo 4: Tracy and Port of Little Rock Executive Director Bryan Day meet at the Port offices on the Arkansas River.] Port of Little Rock Port Muskogee Tulsa Ports CF Industries Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co.

It's a new week! Let's get it! Barge transportation contributes more than half a million jobs to the U.S. economy. #RiversMoveUS #RiversEmployUS [Photo by: Leslie Spicer, Southern Devall Deckhand Training Sulphur La Main Hub]

Thank you to Engineering News-Record for this great article - Corps Moves to Final Phase of Nearly $1B Chickamauga Lock Replacement by Derek Lacey. "WCI member Shimmick Corporation is the prime contractor for the $275-million project to construct the lock chamber. Upstream approach walls are being constructed by C.J. Mahan Construction Company, LLC as part of a $61-million contract awarded in September 2021. The final phase, expected to run between $100 million and $250 million—and which could be awarded this month ... includes wet commissioning and demolition of the spillway, construction of downstream approach walls extending underneath a nearby railroad bridge, as well as existing lock closure and backfill, with earliest completion dates set for November 2027 to have an operation lock and December 2029 for project completion." https://lnkd.in/g4UYSCvR