The Illinois Waterway system consists of of navigable water from the mouth of the

Calumet River The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

to the mouth of the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the ...

at Grafton,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. Based primarily on the

, it is a system of rivers, lakes, and canals that provide a shipping connection from the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

via the Illinois and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

rivers. The Illinois and Michigan Canal (I&M) opened in 1848. In 1900, the

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, historically known as the Chicago Drainage Canal, is a canal system that connects the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River. It reverses the direction of the Main Stem and the South Branch of the Chicago R ...

replaced the I&M and reversed the flow of the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons fo ...

so it no longer flowed into

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

maintains a navigation channel in the waterway.

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

.
Chapter 6. The Illinois Waterway
". page 3. June 3, 2005. (Dead link) The waterway's complex northern section is referred to in various contexts for study and management as the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Cargoes include bulk commodities, such as coal, chemicals, and petroleum, as well as corn, soybeans and other agricultural products. During some winters, ice floes, especially around the locks and dams, occasionally prevent navigation on the Waterway.

Locks and dams

A series of eight locks, managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, controls water flow from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River system. The upper lock, T.J. O'Brien, is 7 miles from Lake Michigan on the Calumet River and the last lock is upstream from the Mississippi River at the LaGrange lock and dam. The amount of water released into the Illinois often is a sore point among lake and river interests. When Lake Michigan water levels are high, lake interests want to increase the flow, and when lake levels are low, they want to restrict the flow. That is why an

international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

regulates the flow, as Canada also has an interest in Lake Michigan levels, which eventually flow into Lakes

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawato ...

, Erie and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Schematic

The schematic below illustrates the drop of the Illinois Waterway from (mean) above sea level at Lake Michigan to (mean) at the Mississippi River at Grafton, Illinois. The eight locks and dams (L&D) on the waterway provide the lift for traffic along the waterway. Illinois Waterway schematic

References

US Army Corps of Engineers Illinois Waterway Fact Sheet
(Dead link)

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Illinois Waterway
(Official site) *{{HAER , survey=IL-164 , id=il0920 , title=Illinois Waterway Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois Illinois waterways

Locks and dams

Schematic

References

Further reading

External links