Responsible for facilitating safe, reliable and economically efficient movement of vessels. The system of rivers, lakes, harbors, and waterways located within the New Orleans District remains one of the most important parts of the region's and nation's transportation system today.
The New Orleans District's navigation efforts focus on both inland and coastal waterways, including the Mississippi River and Outlets at Venice, the Calcasieu River Ship Channel, the Atchafalaya River Delta, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Mississippi and Texas.
USACE's primary navigation responsibilities include planning and constructing new navigation channels and locks and dams, and dredging to maintain mandated channel depths in U.S. harbors and on inland waterways. Nationally, the USACE operates and maintains 25,000 miles of navigable channels and 196 commercial lock and dam sites and is responsible for ports and waterways in 41 states.
In partnership with local port authorities, USACE personnel oversee construction and dredging projects at hundreds of ports and harbors at an average annual cost of nearly $1.5 billion. USACE dredges nearly 300 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.
Click neighboring USACE District below for their Navigation homepage: