TRANSPORTATION OF COAL TO SEAPORTS VIA THE MID-AMERICA INLAND WATERWAY SYSTEM

The mid-America inland waterway system has long been recognized as one of the cornerstones for the movement of domestic coal. Yet, until the recent steam coal export boom, insufficient attention had been paid to the economic advantages of shipping coal by river for export transhipment at Gulf Coast ports. The ports of Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, combined to handle 2.7 million tons of export coal in 1979 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce records. These two ports, however, offer much greater capacity than current demand requires. In addition, other Gulf Coast ports are exploring the potentials for coal export, most notably, Galveston, Texas. The Ports of Mobile and New Orleans, and the entire mid-America inland waterway system are responding to the unprecedented demand for U.S. mined steam coal. In efforts to report on the developments of this portion of America's coal handling capacity, this paper has three major objectives: To place the mid-America inland waterway movement of coal for export in a broad domestic context of total coal movements for export; To define the network of coal movement on mid-America inland waterways including major points of origin; and, To describe the existing facilities and plans for expansion at the two leading Gulf Coast ports of New Orleans and Mobile which receive a portion of their export coal via mid-American inland waterways.

• Corporate Authors:

  Simat, Helliesen and Eichner, Incorporated

  1019 19th Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Tomassoni, M E
• Publication Date: 1981-1-14

Media Info

• Pagination: 27 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bulk cargo; Coal; Coal industry; Coal terminals; Exports; Freight traffic; Inland water transportation; Marine terminals; Port capacity; Port structures; Ports; River ports; Rivers; Statistics; Water traffic; Waterways
• Geographic Terms: Alabama; Louisiana
• Old TRIS Terms: Bulk coal; Inland waterways transportation; River characteristics; River traffic; Waterways commerce statistics
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Freight Transportation; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00325802
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 12 1981 12:00AM