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Value to the Nation

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Value to the Nation: Navigation

Graphic representing U.S. harbors that handled over 10 million tons in 2000. Click for full size picture
Image of U.S. Harbors

Every day thousands of vessels move people, animals, and products across the country via the nation's rivers and harbors. This water traffic is a vital component of the nation's economy. One of USACE's primary missions is to ensure that this traffic can move safely, reliably, and efficiently and with minimal impact on the environment.

USACE's primary navigation responsibilities include planning and constructing new navigation channels and locks and dams, and dredging to maintain channel depths at U.S. harbors and on inland waterways.

12,000 miles of inland and intercoastal waterways

1,067 coastal, Great Lakes and inland channels

 Over 210M cubic yards of material dredged each year

USACE maintains 12,000 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways with 218 lock chambers at 176 sites; and 1,067 coastal, Great Lakes, and inland channels and harbors comprising 13,000 miles of channels and 23 locks.

In partnership with local port authorities, USACE personnel oversee dredging and construction projects at hundreds of ports and harbors at an average annual cost of over $1.3 billion. USACE dredges over 210 million cubic yards of material each year to keep the nation's waterways navigable. Much of this dredged material is reused for environmental restoration projects including the creation of wetlands.

More Information

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 Economic Impact

Despite the growth in high-tech communication and high-speed transportation the nation's ports and waterways remain the crucial backbone of our economy. Approximately 2.3 billion tons of cargo are shipped to, from or through 41 states each year. USACE navigation services play an essential role in ensuring that commercial goods move smoothly along the distribution chain. Read more…

 Environmental Benefits

USACE carefully evaluates the environmental impact of each navigation project it undertakes. It typically performs computer modeling of planned changes to river and estuary systems to fully assess, and limit, the environmental effects of navigation projects before any work begins. Read more…

 Other Navigation Web Sites
 How these numbers were calculated


The National Economic Development (NED) benefit estimate for Great Lakes Navigation is calculated first at the commodity level by multiplying the tonnage estimate for each commodity group by the estimated savings per ton1 ($/ton) for each commodity group. The total NED benefit for Great Lakes Navigation is calculated by summing the resulting NED benefit estimates for each commodity group.

NED Benefit Estimate ($) = Estimated Tonnage Shipped (ton) x Savings per Ton Shipped ($/ton)

Benefits for the Great Lakes Navigation System were generated using a rate savings approach, where transportation rate savings per ton (by commodity type) were derived as the difference between transportation costs associated with current waterway movements and transportation costs associated with the most-likely least cost alternate transport mode. Typically, a combination of rail and/or truck is assumed to be the most-likely alternative transportation cost.

The Great Lakes Navigation transportation rates utilized in this analysis were provided by the USACE Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation and Risk Informed Economics Division (PCXIN-RED). Unique rates were developed for each calendar year, by commodity group, which effectively combine the major bulk sub-groups that transit the Great Lakes navigation system. Tonnage-weighted average rates were developed using a Great Lakes System rate study. This study identified the major commodity movements that occurred in the basin, and calculated origin-destination transportation rates for waterway movements, and the least cost overland route. The difference between these two modal options represent rate savings.

Due to the nature of the USACE Navigation program, much of the division, district, and project level data includes double counting (mainly because tons that are transported in one district are also likely to be transported in other districts as they move along a waterway). In short, to accommodate these issues a national quantity of inland tonnage (based on commodity tonnage) that did not include double counted tonnages was distributed to each project based on its percentage of total tons shipped.


1Note: All tonnage values reported are measured in short tons.

Sources of Data

  • FY 2020
    • USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC), TOWS detail table. (2020). Electronic database. Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation. (2020). Waterway and Overland Transportation Costs.
  • FY 2019
    • USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC), TOWS detail table. (2019). Electronic database. Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation. (2019). Waterway and Overland Transportation Costs.
  • FY 2018
    • USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC), TOWS detail table. (2018). Electronic database. Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation. (2018). Waterway and Overland Transportation Costs.
  • FY 2017
    • USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC), TOWS detail table. (2017). Electronic database. Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation. (2017). Waterway and Overland Transportation Costs.
  • FY 2016
    • USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC), TOWS detail table. (2016). Electronic database. Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation. (2016). Waterway and Overland Transportation Costs.
 Benefits in Perspective


For the purposes of the Value to the Nation effort, navigation infrastructure has been subdivided into three primary categories: Inland, Coastal, and Great Lakes. Great Lakes navigation refers to the continuous 27-foot deep draft waterway that extends from the western end of Lake Superior at Duluth, MN to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Atlantic Ocean; a distance of over 2,400 miles. The Great Lakes are technically part of the Coastal Navigation system, but are often separated for purposes of analysis since the two systems tend to operate differently. The Great Lakes Navigation System is a bi-national resource composed of the five Great Lakes, the connecting channels of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The U.S. portion of the system includes 140 harbors (60 commercial; 80 recreational), 2 operational locks, 104 miles of breakwaters and jetties, and over 600 miles of maintained navigation channels. In addition, the Great Lakes navigation system is connected to several other shallow draft waterways (Illinois Waterway, New York State Barge Canal, etc.) to form an important waterborne transportation network, reaching deep into the continent.

The primary National Economic Development (NED) benefit of USACE Great Lakes navigation infrastructure is the reduction in the cost required to transport commodities compared to the next best alternative (rail transportation).

Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Archive

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 2020 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2020 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2019 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2019 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2018 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2018 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2017 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2017 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2016 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2016 Flood Risk Management Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the state report collection, select "All State Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Archive

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 2020 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts

Select 2020 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

How these numbers were calculated.

 2019 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2019 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2018 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2018 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2017 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2017 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2016 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2016 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

Inland Navigation Fast Facts Archive

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 2020 Inland Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2020 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2019 Inland Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2019 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2018 Inland Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2018 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2017 Inland Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2017 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

 2016 Inland Navigation Fast Facts


Select 2016 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

How these numbers were calculated.

Navigation is USACE's earliest Civil Works mission, dating back to 1824 when Federal laws authorized and funded USACE to improve safety on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and several ports. USACE provides safe, reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation systems (channels, harbors, and waterways) for movement of commerce, national security needs, and recreation. Activities in the Civil Works Navigation Program include planning, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and further improving navigation channels, locks and dams.

Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports

Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports can be selected by national, project, USACE Division, or USACE District level. Select 2021 Coastal Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".

Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports

Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports can be selected by national, project, USACE Division, or USACE District level. Select 2021 Great Lakes Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports". 

Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports

Inland Navigation Reports can be selected by national, project, USACE Division, or USACE District level. Select 2021 Inland Navigation Fast Facts Reports from the USACE Digital Library collections:

You can select an individual report, or go to a collection of reports. For a list of all reports in a collection, for example, in the project report collection, select "All Project Reports".