The importance of maintaining a safe navigation channel assumes great significance when the role of the Mississippi River as the main stem of the vast inland waterways system is taken into account. With completion of the Ohio River canalization in 1929, the Upper Mississippi River canalization in 1940, and enlargement of the Intracoastal Waterway in 1943, a vast network of waterways for barge traffic was provided.
The 12-foot-deep Intracoastal Waterway system extends from New Orleans westward to the Mexican border, connecting the Mississippi River through Algiers and Harvey Locks with the…
