Gulf Intracoastal Waterway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Leland Bowman Lock near Intracoastal City, Louisiana, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Location	Gulf Coast of the United States
Country	United States
Specifications
Length	1,050 miles (1,690 km)
History
Date completed	June 18, 1949 (1949-06-18)
Geography
Start point	Brownsville, Texas
End point	Carrabelle, Florida
Branch of	Intracoastal Waterway
Connects to	Various

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 1,050 mi (1,690 km) from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas.

The waterway provides a channel with a controlling depth of 12 ft (3.7 m), designed primarily for barge transportation. Although the U.S. government proposals for such a waterway were made in the early 19th century, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was not completed until 1949.

EHL & WHL mileages

The Corps of Engineers marks the Intracoastal with channel markers like this one.

Locations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway are defined in terms of statute miles (as opposed to nautical miles, in which most marine routes are measured) east and west of Harvey Lock, a navigation lock in the New Orleans area located at 29°54′32″N 90°05′02″W / 29.909°N 90.084°W / 29.909; -90.084. The Hathaway Bridge in Panama City, Florida, for example, is at mile 284.6 EHL (East of Harvey Lock). The Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge at South Padre Island is at mile 665.1 WHL (West of Harvey Lock).

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
• Atchafalaya River
• Bayou Lafourche
• Bayou Terrebonne
• Calcasieu River
• Calcasieu Ship Channel
• Delcambre Canal
• Houston Ship Channel
• Industrial Canal
• Lower Mississippi River
• Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal
• Mobile Bay (connecting to the Tenn-Tom Waterway)
• Pearl River
• Sabine-Neches Waterway (Includes portions of)
  • Neches River
  • Sabine Lake
  • Sabine River
• Santa Rosa Sound
• The Rigolets
• Vermilion River

Ports and harbors

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway enters Galveston Bay at Port Bolivar, Texas

Many of the busiest ports in the United States in terms of tons of cargo are located on or near the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Notable ports on or near the waterway include:
Florida

• Apalachicola, Florida
• Carrabelle, Florida
• Panama City, Florida
• Pensacola, Florida

Alabama

• Mobile, Alabama - Ranked 9th busiest

Mississippi

• Gulfport, Mississippi
• Pascagoula, Mississippi - Ranked 21st busiest

Louisiana

• Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Ranked 10th busiest
• Houma, Louisiana - Ranked 88th busiest
• Intracoastal City, Louisiana
• Lake Charles, Louisiana - Ranked 12th busiest
• Larose, Louisiana
• Morgan City, Louisiana
• New Orleans, Louisiana - Ranked 7th busiest
• Port Allen, Louisiana
• Port of South Louisiana - Ranked as busiest port in the United States

Texas

• Beaumont, Texas - Ranked 4th busiest
• Brownsville, Texas - Ranked 72nd busiest
• Corpus Christi, Texas - Ranked 8th busiest
• Galveston, Texas - Ranked 48th busiest
• Houston, Texas - Ranked 2nd busiest
• Port Arthur, Texas - Ranked 18th busiest
• Port Lavaca - Point Comfort, Texas - Ranked 50th busiest
• Texas City, Texas - Ranked 14th busiest
• Victoria, Texas - Ranked 73rd busiest