TULSA — With more than $92 million from the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Tulsa and Little Rock districts has begun efforts to deepen the shipping channel on the 445-mile McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
Plans call for the channel to be deepened to 12 feet in an effort to make the Arkansas River more navigable for heavier barge traffic. Deepening the channel will allow the inland commercial fleet to sail at deeper drafts that are consistent with those on the Lower Mississippi River, the USACE said.
A deeper river would allow barges to carry heavier loads. One report indicated the additional draft would allow some barges to carry up to 33% more cargo, which would lower transportation costs, “benefiting producers and consumers throughout the region and nation,” the Corps said.
KATV in Little Rock said the Corps of Engineers estimated that more than a million cubic yards will need to be dredged from the river bottom to deepen areas of the river from the Port of Catoosa to the Mississippi River.
Roughly $5 billion of goods are moved on the MKARNS annually, according to the USACE. Shipping more cargo on the MKARNS versus road or rail “can aid in the reduction of landside congestion on roads and railways and help to improve air quality, since emissions from barges on a ton per mile basis are far less than trucks or rail,” the Corps of Engineers said.
The deepening project will require placing rock structures to scour the channel, dredging the channel, and utilizing in-water and upland dredge disposal sites throughout the project area. Additionally, some lock modifications will be needed to accommodate the increase in vessel size that the deepened channel would allow, the USACE reported.