$394,000 Contract To Study Inland Waterways And Gulf Coast Area

Robert J. Blackwell, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs, has announced the award of a $394,000, 16-month research and development contract to study the port facilities and waterborne commodity flows of 17 states in the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf Coast area.

Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy- Stratton, an engineering and architectural consulting firm wellknown in the port industry, will be the prime contractors. Subcontractors will be Temple, Barker and Sloane, Inc., Chase Econometrics, Inc., and the Institute for Public Administration.

Half of the total cost of the project will be funded by the Maritime Administration (Mar- Ad), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The remainder will be contributed by the 17 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In announcing the award, Mr.

Blackwell said: "This project will complement a recently completed study which concluded that improved river port operations offer the greatest potential for maintaining the competitiveness of barge-towing operations. The inland waterways system links the agricultural and industrial centers of the vast mid-America region. Cooperative efforts and astute planning, fostered by this study, will help to assure that the water transportation system continues to render a vital service to America's heartland." Entitled "The Mid-America Ports Study," the project has five primary objectives determined by a steering committee of representatives of the 17 states and staff members of MarAd's Office of Port and Intermodal Development.

First, an inventory of port facilities and an assessment of their capacities will be conducted.

Next, the system's cargo flow, on both domestic and international bases, will be analyzed, specifically to determine the interaction between ports. Each port's capacity utilization will be analyzed.

Cargo flow data, including volume and direction, will be projected to the year 2000. Finally, recommendations will be made for the location and type of port additions, capital requirements, and a time schedule, to meet the cargo movement expected through the remainder of the 20th century.

The committee will also oversee the progress of the study.

The project is similar to the Port System Study of the Public Ports of Washington and Portland, Ore. That study resulted in the organization of the Cooperative Development Committee for Northwest Ports, a group formed to facilitate port planning on a regional basis in the Pacific Northwest.

The Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf Coast areas account for a significant portion of the nearly 600 million tons of cargo moving on America's inland waterways annually. This movement is expected to grow to 868.8 million tons by the year 2000.

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