The Port of Kansas City is an

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

on the Missouri River in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

at river mile 367.1, near the confluence with the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwesternmost part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwesternmost portion of the extensive Mississippi River dr ...

. Kansas City, the second-largest rail hub and third-largest trucking hub in the country, is on marine highway M-70, which extends as far as

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and intersects M-55 at St. Louis, allowing shipping to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

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 ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

and connections to major cities all over the eastern United States.Port of Kansas City
/ref> The Missouri inland waterway allows for

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

traffic as far upriver as

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

; however, most of the commercial traffic on the Missouri is concentrated between Kansas City and St. Louis. The intermodal facility has approximately of storage space, a loading system consisting of three 25-ton cranes, one 100-ton crane, eight front-end loaders, portable conveyor systems, and a

truck scale A truck scale (US), weighbridge (non-US) or railroad scale is a large set of scales, usually mounted permanently on a concrete foundation, that is used to weigh entire rail or road vehicles and their contents. By weighing the vehicle both emp ...

.Missouri Port Authorities – Kansas City Port Authority
/ref> Products shipped through the terminal include fertilizer, grain, corn, meal, bark, rock

clinker Clinker may refer to: *Clinker (boat building), construction method for wooden boats *Clinker (waste), waste from industrial processes *Clinker (cement), a kilned then quenched cement product * ''Clinkers'' (album), a 1978 album by saxophonist St ...

, salt, rolled and coiled steel, H-beams, plate steel,

rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concrete under tension. ...

and

petroleum coke Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in particular, derives from a final crack ...

. The terminal is served by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, with extensive rail track at the facility for loading and unloading

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The ter ...

Typically, shipment by barge is cheaper than other modes of transportation, with less negative impact on the environment. However, the marine shipping industry has suffered on the Missouri due to years of drought and a shipping season that closes during the winter months. The Army Corps of Engineers is supposed to maintain a shipping channel of at least deep on the Missouri year-round. During low-water season, the depth is controlled by dams hundreds of miles up river; the Corps manages those dams for a variety of purposes including chiefly flood control and navigation, but also recreation and environmental directives. These various uses often conflict. The Corps has drawn sharp criticism from Missouri Governor

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reel ...

and Kansas Governor

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

. After seeing years of decline and dwindling tonnage levels, the Port of Kansas City closed in 2007. However, the Kansas City Port Authority took over the port and reopened it in August 2012 for commercial use. At one time, the Port of Kansas City shipped and received millions of tons of freight; however when it ceased operations in 2007 it was only processing 600,000 tons of freight a year. The Port has since undergone extensive renovations, which were completed in 2016. The Kansas City Port Authority is trying to revive the barge industry in Kansas City, and believes it can be a great economic engine for the Kansas City area. They have recently hired a Director of Port Operations who has been tasked to establish sustainable levels of freight operations and oversee the eventual

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...

of the port. Kansas City NWSL unveiled plans to construct the first purpose-built stadium for North American women's professional soccer, located at the Port of Kansas City. The stadium is planned to be built in

at the Richard L. Berkley Riverfront Park with an estimated cost of $70-million. The project will be entirely privately financed through the ownership group, with the team signing a 50-year lease for the site at which the stadium will be located.

References

{{Coord, 39.1125, -94.6105, type:landmark, display=title Economy of Kansas City, Missouri Geography of Kansas City, Missouri River ports of the United States