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 1050 miles (1700 kilometers) from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.
The waterway provides a channel with a controlling depth of 12 feet (3.7 meters), 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]
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EHL & WHL mileages [edit]
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 located at 29°54′32″N 90°05′02″W / 29.909°N 90.084°W. The Hathaway Bridge in Panama City, Florida, for example, is at mile 284.6 EHL (East of Harvey Lock). The Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge at South Padre Island is at mile 665.1 WHL (West of Harvey Lock).[3]
Connecting waterways [edit]
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses or meets, and in some cases is confluent with, numerous other navigable rivers and waterways. They include:
- Apalachicola River
- Atchafalaya River
- Bayou Lafourche
- Calcasieu River
- Calcasieu Ship Channel
- Delcambre Canal
- Houston Ship Channel
- Industrial Canal
- Lower Mississippi River
- Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal
- Mobile Bay (connecting to the Tenn-Tom Waterway)
- Neches River
- Pearl River
- Sabine River
- Santa Rosa Sound
- The Rigolets
- Vermilion River
Ports and harbors [edit]
Notable ports on or near the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway include:
- Port of South Louisiana
- Carrabelle, Florida
- Gulfport, Mississippi
- Houma, Louisiana
- Intracoastal City, Louisiana
- Larose, Louisiana
- Morgan City, Louisiana
- Panama City, Florida
- Pascagoula, Mississippi
- Pensacola, Florida
- Apalachicola, Florida
- Brownsville, Texas
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Galveston, Texas
- Houston, Texas
- Lake Charles, Louisiana
- Mobile, Alabama
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Port Allen, Louisiana
- Port Arthur, Texas
- Port Lavaca - Point Comfort, Texas
- Texas City, Texas
- Victoria, Texas
See also [edit]
- Waterways along and crossings of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
- IHNC Lake Borgne Surge Barrier
- Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex
References [edit]
| KML file (edit) |
- ^ "The Handbook of Texas Online". University of Texas. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
- ^ Lynn M. Alperin. "History of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway" (PDF). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History. Archived from the original on 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2006-04-03.
- ^ "33 CFR 89.25 Waters Specified by the Secretary" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center. Retrieved 2006-04-21.
