Intracoastal Waterway - 20th-century Developments

20th-century Developments

The invention of the diesel engine in 1892 eventually led to the conversion of fuels for transportation from coal and steam to diesel and the internal combustion engine; this would be greatly enhanced by WWI military uses and the beginning of a new age of fuel usage and consumption. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1909 set national policy for an intracoastal waterway from Boston to the Rio Grande River, and the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1910 authorized a 9-foot x 100-foot channel on Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Apalachicola River and St. Andrew Bay, Florida, as well as a study of the most efficient means to move cargo. Between 1910 and 1914, navigation channels were deepened, and the screw propeller proved efficient for improved steering and flanking qualities. Also during this period, the "Panama Canal Act" was passed in 1911; it proved key to the revival of waterway transportation in the U.S, because when the canal opened in 1914, it allowed coastal shipping to extend to the country's west coast for the first time. The law also prohibited railroads from owning, controlling, or operating a water carrier through the Canal and led to succeeding legislation that eliminated monopoly of transportation modes by railroads. The country's World War I experience demonstrated the need for bulk cargo transportation, with Congress establishing the Federal Barge Lines and spurring development of cheaper ways to transport farm commodities, including the first use of standardized freight barges.

In 1924, Congress incorporated Inland Waterways Corporation, which is generally regarded as beginning of modern water carrier operations, and in 1925 Congress authorized construction of a "Louisiana and Texas Intracoastal Waterway", as well as surveys east of New Orleans to Apalachicola Bay; this was the first legislation to treat the ICW as a continuous whole. The River and Harbor Act of January 21, 1927, passed by Congress, authorized the portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, using the route planned out by the Jacksonville District of the Corps Of Engineers. In 1936 the continuous 9-foot x100-foot channel was completed between Apalachicola River and New Orleans. During World War II, the need for efficient transportation of bulk materials within the continental United States was well demonstrated after German submarines sank numerous merchant ships off the East Coast. By 1942, the 9-foot x 100-foot ICW channel was completed between New Orleans and Corpus Christi.

Today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of 12 feet (4 m) for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented that. Consequently for larger ships, shoaling or shallow waters are encountered along several sections of the waterway, with these having 7-foot (2.1-m) or 9-foot (2.7-m) minimum depths from earlier improvements. While no tolls are charged for waterway usage, commercial users have been charged a fuel tax since 1978, which is used to maintain and improve its constructed facilities. That year, the Inland Waterways Revenue Act imposed a barge fuel tax; originally set at 4 cents/gal in 1980, it was gradually raised to 10 cents/gal by 1986. The act also created the Inland Waterways Trust Fund under the US Treasury to hold these funds, which are used to cover half the cost of new construction and major rehabilitation of the inland waterways infrastructure (33 U.S.C. ch.32). The later Water Resources Development Act of 1986 was a wide-ranging bill regarding all water resources utilization nationally. Concerning transportation on waterways, this law established the Inland Waterways Users Board to make recommendations regarding construction and rehabilitation priorities and spending levels for the inland waterways, and also gradually increased the incremental fuel tax to 20 cents/gal by 1995.