New Orleans District > Missions > Navigation

/ / /

Navigation Condition Surveys

Mission Overview

The New Orleans District, Operations Division performs routine hydrographic surveys to monitor local river and waterway navigation conditions. This information is used as a decision making tool for channel maintenance operations. These products can also be used to supplement existing published navigation charts with more recent shoaling activity.

The collected XYZ data is processed through the USACE eHydro software which creates PDF and SHP files. These data files show results of surveys made on the dates shown and can only be considered as indicating general conditions present at those times.

Click the links below to download and install various programs for opening our files:
Install Adobe Acrobat, Google Earth, and 7-Zip

File Descriptions

.PDF - Portable Document Format; Shows map of plotted survey data and other information including horizontal and vertical datums, vessel and crew names, sounding frequency, etc.

.XYZ - ASCII text file; Comma-delimted and contains 3 columns for eastings, northings and elevations in that order for each survey point associated with cross-sections of that survey sheet in most cases. The .XYZ file will contain profile points when only points along a profile line were recorded. All eastings and northings are referenced to NAD83, State Plane Coordinates, Louisiana South Zone 17 in US Survey Feet. Elevations are displayed in US Survey Feet and are referenced to the datum shown on the indivdual survey drawing.

.SHP - ESRI Shapefile format; Digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information (Wikipedia). Zip files available contain data for project depth contour, shoaling polygons, and sounding points.

Mississippi River Survey Info and P.O.C

The portion of the Mississippi River within New Orleans District jurisdiction consists of a shallow draft channel from Old River to Baton Rouge and a deep draft channel from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico, a total of approximately 342 miles. The deep draft channel allows transit of vessels carrying grain, coal, and other commodities for the Ports of Baton Rouge, South Louisiana, New Orleans, and Plaquemines which collectively handle 450 million tons of cargo per year making it the largest port complex in the United States. Maintenance dredging is performed in the shallow draft crossings between Old River and Baton Rouge, deep draft crossings between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, along New Orleans Harbor and in Southwest Pass.

District P.O.C.:
Michelle Kornick, Operations Manager
CEMVN-OD-C
504-862-1842
Michelle.S.Kornick@usace.army.mil

South and Southwest Pass

Shallow Draft - Old River to Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge Harbor Area

Deep Draft - Baton Rouge to New Orleans "Crossings"

Deep Draft Crossings Report

New Orleans Harbor Area

Deep Draft - New Orleans to Venice

Atchafalaya River Survey Info and P.O.C.

District P.O.C.:
Tim Connell, Operations Manager
CEMVN-OD-D
504-862-2360
Timothy.J.Connell@usace.army.mil

Atchafalaya Shallow Draft - Whiskey Bay to Krotz Springs

Main Channel and Bayous Chene, Black and Boeuf

Old River Lock Area

Morgan City Area

Southeast Waterways Survey Info and P.O.C.

District P.O.C.:
Raymond Newman, Operations Manager
CEMVN-OD-G
504-862-2050
Raymond.C.Newman@usace.army.mil

Outlets at Venice - Baptiste Collette and Tiger Pass

Empire Waterway

Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, G.I.W.W - East of Harvey Lock

Barataria Bay Waterway

Bayou Lafourche

Houma Navigation Canal

Southwest Waterways Survey Info and P.O.C.

The Operations Manager for Calcasieu River (CEMVN-OD-F) manages waterways and salinity control structures in Southwest LA. Waterways include the Calcasieu River and Pass, Freshwater Bayou, Mermentau River, Bayou Teche, and Bayou Teche-Vermilion. Salinity control structures include Calcasieu River Saltwater Barrier, Freshwater Bayou Lock, and Schooner Bayou and Catfish Point Control Structures. The Calcasieu River and Pass project provides deep draft access to the Port of Lake Charles and is dredged annually with average annual dredging costs ranging from $10M to $15M.

District P.O.C.:
Tracy Falk, Operations Manager
CEMVN-OD-F
504-862-2971
Tracy.A.Falk@usace.army.mil

Calcasieu River - Upper Channel

Calcasieu River - Lower Channel

Calcasieu River - Bar Channel

Freshwater Bayou

Mermentau River

Vermilion River and Bay

Bayou Teche

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and P.O.C.

District P.O.C.:
Vic Landry, Operations Manager
CEMVN-OD-H
504-862-2407
Victor.A.Landry@usace.army.mil

G.I.W.W. - Harvey Lock to Bayou Boeuf Lock

G.I.W.W. - Bayou Boeuf Lock to Leland Bowman Lock

G.I.W.W. - Leland Bowman Lock to Sabine River

G.I.W.W. - Morgan City to Port Allen Route

G.I.W.W. - Chandeleur Alt. Route

HISTORIC DATA

DISCLAIMER

Access Constraints: The United States Government furnishes these data and the recipient accepts and uses them with the express understanding that the US Government makes no warranties, expressed, or implied concerning the accuracy, completeness, readability, usability or suitability for any particular purpose of the information and the data furnished. The United States shall be under no liability whatsoever to any person by reason of any use made thereof. These data belong to the Government. Therefore the recipient fully agrees not to represent these data to anyone as other than Government provided data. The recipient may not transfer these data to others without also transferring this Disclaimer.

The information depicted on these maps represents the results of a survey conducted on the date indicated and can only be considered to represent the general condition existing at that time.

Distribution Liability: The data represents the results of data collection/processing for a specific U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activity and indicates the general existing conditions. As such, it is only valid for its intended use, content, time and accuracy specifications. The user is responsible for the results of any of the application of the data for other than its intended purpose.

Data Constraints: Hydrographic survey data is subject to change rapidly due to several factors including but not limited to dredging activity and natural shoaling and scouring processes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accepts no responsibility for changes in the hydrographical conditions. This data is intended for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' internal use. Prudent mariners should not rely solely upon it.

ACCESSIBILITY

The New Orleans District is committed to making its websites accessible to all users in accordance with provisions of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended in 1998). As there exists no technology capable of producing dynamically generated map descriptions on Hydrographic Survey PDFs as an alternative manner accessible to individuals who are visually impaired, compliance with those standards is not possible at this time. Furthermore, hydrographic surveys contain highly dynamic digital information in which visual aspects of geographic features may not be fully translatable to verbal queues (e.g., topography, bathymetry, navigation aids, etc.). If you cannot fully access the information on a particular page or hydrographic survey PDF, please email our office using the District P.O.C. below. You should also provide the file name or URL of the survey that you are trying to access, and we will do everything possible to provide you the information. Please note that this may involve providing content in an alternate format.

District P.O.C.:
Richard Entwisle, Chief - Channel Survey
CEMVN-OD-T
504-862-1377
Richard.C.Entwisle@usace.army.mil

About Channel Survey Function

For information regarding specific surveys, data, and standard operating procedures or for requests for data not shown on this webpage, please contact Channel Survey Function.

District P.O.C.:
Richard Entwisle, Chief - Channel Survey
CEMVN-ODT-C
504-862-1377
Richard.C.Entwisle@usace.army.mil