Gulf Intracoastal Waterway


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 from Saint Marks, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.
The waterway provides a channel with a controlling depth of, designed primarily for barge transportation. Although the U.S. government proposals for such a waterway were made in the early 19th century, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was not completed until 1949.

EHL & WHL mileages

[Image:165whl.jpg|thumb|The Corps of Engineers marks the Intracoastal with channel markers like this one.]
Locations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway are defined in terms of statute miles east and west of Harvey Lock, a navigation lock in the New Orleans area located at. The Hathaway Bridge in Panama City, Florida, for example, is at mile 284.6 EHL. The Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge at South Padre Island is at mile 665.1 WHL.

Connecting waterways

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

Operations and Cargo

As of 2018, The GIWW was the 3rd busiest waterway in the U.S. in terms of tonnage, behind the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. The 112 million tons shipped, worth $90 billion, included 69 million tons of petroleum and petroleum products and 23 million tons of chemicals.

Ports and harbors

[Image:Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Galveston Bay.jpg|thumb|The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway enters Galveston Bay at Port Bolivar, Texas]
Many of the busiest ports in the United States in terms of tons of cargo are located on or near the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Notable ports on or near the waterway include:
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas