- 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 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,cite web
title=The Handbook of Texas Online
work=University of Texas
url=http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/rrg4.html
accessdate=2006-03-08] the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was not completed until 1949.cite web
author=Lynn M. Alperin
title=History of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
work=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History
format=PDF
url=http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/misc/nws83-9/entire.pdf
accessdate=2006-04-03]EHL & WHL mileages
Locations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway are defined in terms of statute miles east and west of
Harvey Lock , anavigation lock in theNew Orleans area. The Hathaway Bridge in Panama City, Florida, for example, is at mile 284.6 EHL (East of Harvey Lock). The Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge atSouth Padre Island is at mile 665.1 WHL (West of Harvey Lock). [cite web
title=33 CFR 89.25 Waters Specified by the Secretary
work=U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center
url=http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/annexes/SpecWaters.htm
accessdate=2006-04-21] The Harvey Lock chamber, located at coord|29.909|N|90.084|W|, is considered to be mile zero.Connecting waterways
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses or meets, and in some cases is confluent with, numerous other navigable rivers and waterways. They include:
*Apalachicola River
*Mobile Bay (connecting to theTenn-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 ee also
*
Waterways along and crossings of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway References
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