Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Leland Bowman Lock near Intracoastal City, Louisiana, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway enters Galveston Bay at Port Bolivar, Texas

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately 1700 kilometers (1050 mi) from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.

The waterway provides a channel with a controlling depth of 3.7 meters (12 ft), designed primarily for barge transportation. Although the U.S. government proposals for such a waterway were made in the early 19th century,^[1] the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was not completed until 1949.^[2]

EHL & WHL mileages

Locations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway are defined in terms of statute miles (as opposed to nautical miles, in which most marine routes are measured) east and west of Harvey Lock, a navigation lock in the New Orleans area. The Hathaway Bridge in Panama City, Florida, for example, is at mile 284.6 (kilometer 457.9) EHL (East of Harvey Lock). The Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge at South Padre Island is at mile 665.1 (kilometer 1070.1) WHL (West of Harvey Lock).^[3] The Harvey Lock chamber, located at 29°54′32″N 90°05′02″W / 29.909°N 90.084°W / 29.909; -90.084, is considered to be mile zero (kilometer zero).^{[citation needed]}

Connecting waterways

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses or meets, and in some cases is confluent with, numerous other navigable rivers and waterways. They include:

The Corps of Engineers marks the Intracoastal with channel markers like this one.

• Apalachicola River
• Mobile Bay (connecting to the Tenn-Tom Waterway)
• Pearl River
• The Rigolets
• Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal
• Industrial Canal
• Lower Mississippi River
• Bayou Lafourche
• Atchafalaya River
• Vermilion River
• Calcasieu River
• Sabine River
• Neches River
• Houston Ship Channel

Ports and harbors

Notable ports on or near the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway include:

• Carrabelle, Florida
• Apalachicola, Florida
• Panama City, Florida
• Pensacola, Florida
• Mobile, Alabama
• Pascagoula, Mississippi
• Gulfport, Mississippi
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Larose, Louisiana
• Houma, Louisiana
• Morgan City, Louisiana
• Intracoastal City, Louisiana
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Port Arthur, Texas
• Galveston, Texas
• Texas City, Texas
• Victoria, Texas (the initial meeting in 1905 which led to the GIWW was held in Victoria)
• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Brownsville, Texas

See also

• Waterways along and crossings of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

References

1. ^ "The Handbook of Texas Online". University of Texas. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/rrg4.html. Retrieved 2006-03-08. 
2. ^ Lynn M. Alperin. "History of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway" (PDF). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History. http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/misc/nws83-9/entire.pdf. Retrieved 2006-04-03. 
3. ^ "33 CFR 89.25 Waters Specified by the Secretary". U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/annexes/SpecWaters.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-21.