The Port of Omaha is a port of entry in the United States with facilities on the west side of the Missouri River in Omaha, Nebraska. The official address is located at 5229 Boeing Court in East Omaha. The Port was formally sanctioned by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

in 1888.

1856–1949

Founded immediately on the settlement of Omaha in 1856, the Port of Omaha was surveyed by Benjamin H. Barrows. Originally located at the foot of Davenport Street in

Downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline ...

, in recent years that site has been redeveloped as a boat launch and docking location called Miller's Landing. In addition to originally handling outbound

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 ...

shipments of grain and passenger boats, the Port also handled inbound shipments of steel and

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

. Starting in the 1930s the

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

planned to channelize the Missouri River, and business leaders in Omaha immediately began clamoring for increased

traffic to the city. In 1937 the Omaha Chamber of Commerce began lobbying the

Nebraska State Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

to create a dock authority that could take funds from the Public Works Administration to support the development of the Port property. The

Union Pacific 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 Pac ...

Railroad, based in Omaha, supported the move believing it would generate more business for its tracks. In 1938 John Latenser, Sr. drew up plans, which were subsequently submitted and denied by the PWA. Subsequent bids to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

failed as well, leaving the city without adequate docking facilities when barge traffic opened in 1940.

1950–present

There was once a spur railroad line to the location, and in the 1950s there were plans to develop the site with modern storage buildings and a crane for unloading; however, those plans did not come to fruition. As part of its

Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, as designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act amendments of 1987, is a proposed deep geological repository storage facility within Yucca Mountain for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radio ...

plan, the U.S. Department of Energy proposes using the Port to receive up to 125 barge shipments carrying giant high-level radioactive waste containers up the Missouri River from the

Cooper Nuclear Station Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) is a boiling water reactor (BWR) type nuclear power plant located on a site near Brownville, Nebraska between Missouri River mile markers 532.9 and 532.5, on Nebraska's border with Missouri. It is the largest sin ...

, which is located at Brownville, Nebraska."The Yucca Mountain dump plan would launch up to 125 barges of deadly high-level radioactive waste onto the Missouri River,"
Nuclear Information & Resource Service. Retrieved 1/26/08. A new, 11-mile segment of trail scheduled for the Omaha riverfront will provide the opportunity for recreation within sight of the Missouri River. The trail will stretch from the Port of Omaha to N.P. Dodge Park. The Missouri River Pedestrian Bridge will cross the Missouri next to the Port across to Playland Park in Council Bluffs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port of Omaha Missouri River Buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Transportation in Omaha, Nebraska Ports and harbors of Nebraska River ports of the United States Waterways in Omaha, Nebraska 1856 establishments in Nebraska Territory

1856–1949

1950–present

See also

References