Page 26: of Marine News Magazine (May 2022)

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Feature

Inland Waterways

Envirotech Vehicles 234 miles, starting in southern Tennessee, at Pickwick

Lake, and joining the Tombigbee River at Pickensville,

Ala.. From there, the Tombigbee River ? ows to Mobile,

AL, and access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Mays cited three challenges. One is the increase in ener- gy and fuel costs. Second, rising interest rates, which could impact private sector investments. Third is the constant demand for maintenance. Mays gladly noted the federal government’s record spending on infrastructure; but he noted further – that probably won’t last forever.

Mays expects two important projects to start in 2022.

Funding was appropriated for an Army Corps navigation improvement study, which will hopefully lead to increas- ing the Tenn-Tom channel depth from nine to twelve feet.

The study should be ? nished in two to three years.

The second project is more tentative, still awaiting fund- ing, Mays said. This project would authorize barriers to

Sue Emry, prevent Asian carp migration, ? rst reported in 2020. Rec- reation is a high priority across the Tenn-Tom system.

Executive Vice President,

TENN-TOM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Envirotech Vehicles

William “Skip” Scaggs is Executive Director of the North “there is a huge transportation cost bene? t” with water- Mississippi Industrial Development Association (NMIDA), ways transport. He said the company unloads, on average, which covers portions of 30 counties in north MS, an area about 125 barges per month in Osceola. Twenty percent of with six inland ports. Scaggs said that new infrastructure ? nished steel coils ship via barge per month, totaling about money has already impacted at least one Tenn-Tom port 500 barge shipments per year. In three years, shipments –at Aberdeen, in Aberdeen, Miss. A grant will help connect will increase to 1,000. rail service directly to the port terminal, providing new ac-

For upcoming construction, the river is critical to USS’s cess to three Class 1 roads as well as new short line service.

inbound construction logistics. Machinery and equipment Scaggs said that just about every company he works with will be delivered by barge and unloaded directly on site. asks about ESG (environmental, social and governance)

This is easier and more ef? cient, Bell explained, than apply- initiatives at local, regional and state levels. “Part of our ing for the permitting required for oversized highway loads. job,” he said, “is to point out the bene? ts of the waterway

The availability and necessity of this kind of transport, and and other assets as it relates to ESG. We see more and more its value, can be overlooked in a cross-modal comparison. interest in waterway borne transportation.” He added that

Caldwell said dredging is a constant focus for the Com- “even before $5 a gallon diesel companies have been look- mission. The waterways are critical for the agricultural sec- ing to manage their logistics costs and water borne trans- tor. Interestingly the Commission’s work falls within three portation is amongst some of the most ef? cient.”

ACE Districts: Little Rock, Memphis and Vicksburg. Critically, the Tenn-Tom links to the international port of Mobile. Scaggs said heavy industry clients, “more often

TENNESSEE TOMBIGEE (THE TEN-TOM) than not,” want to know about access to the Gulf of Mex-

Mitch Mays is Administrator for the Tennessee-Tom- ico. The NMIDA team emphasizes that the inland wa- bigbee Waterway Development Authority. Mays was asked terways work as a system, directly connecting the Port of about some top issues for the Tenn-Tom, which ? ows for Mobile with cities as distant as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

26 | MN May 2022