The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas. Some sections of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, and sounds, while others are artificial canals. It provides a navigable route along its length without many of the hazards of travel on the open sea.

Context and early history

Since the coastline represented the national border, and commerce of the time was chiefly by water, the fledgling United States government established a degree of national control over it. Inland transportation to supply the

coasting trade The modern terms short-sea shipping (sometimes unhyphenated), marine highway, and motorways of the sea, and the more historical terms coastal trade, coastal shipping, coasting trade, and coastwise trade, all encompass the movement of cargo and pas ...

at the time was less known and virtually undeveloped, but when new lands and their favorable river systems were added with the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance established a radically new and free national policy for their development and transportation use. Over time, internal improvements of natural coastal and inland waterways would develop into the Great Loop, which allows for waterborne circumnavigation of the eastern continental United States, using minimal ocean travel, with the Intracoastal Waterway providing its eastern end. In 1808, the first federal government report on existing, possible, and likely avenues of transportation improvement was presented; it included much of the distance where the ICW now traverses the Atlantic coast. At the request of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin presented an overall plan for future transportation developments of national importance and scope. Along with inland east–west improvements, Gallatin's north–south improvements included the following: While Gallatin discussed the details of engineering, construction, and costs, including the national benefits to accrue from lowered transportation costs between domestic and international markets, his full $20 million, 10-year plan was never approved. That is not to say his plan was never implemented, however, for with experience in the War of 1812 shortly thereafter and the attendant British blockade, the continued need for such facility was soon highlighted. Since Gallatin had based his proposals on the known advantageous natural geographic features of the country, many of his proposals became the locations of navigation improvements that were surveyed, authorized, and constructed starting with the 1824 General Survey Act and the first of many pieces of rivers and harbors legislation, as well by individual state-built improvements. Since these 1824 acts, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has responsibility for navigation waterway improvements and maintenance. All four proposed sections of Gallatin's intracoastal plan were eventually built; the Delaware and Raritan Canal was later abandoned for a better alternative, but the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck o ...

remains in operation, and the Delaware and the Dismal Swamp portions still form part of the larger present-day Intracoastal Waterway.

19th-century growth

In 1826, Congress authorized the first survey for an inland canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. After the Civil War, government funding shifted from waterways to railroads; still, coastal improvements authorized for development included the Houston Ship Channel and the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

in 1872. The following year, the Senate's Select Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard looked at the need for more haulage capacity to move freight to the coasts. But their "Report of Windom Select Committee" their plans and recommendations "received less attention than was anticipated, of course by reason of the rapid growth of interest in railways". In the River and Harbors Appropriations Acts of 1882 and 1884, Congress signaled its intent to improve waterways to benefit the nation by promoting competition among transportation modes. The 1882 act was the first act of Congress to combine appropriations for development of the nation's waterways with a reaffirmation of the policy of freedom from tolls and other user charges, first stated in 1787; it was passed over President Chester Arthur's veto, who considered it a waste of the federal government's growing budget surplus. In 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act established federal regulation of railroads; Congress continued to promote freedom from tolls or special taxes on waterways. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, but the federal government used it minimally until Theodore Roosevelt's presidency more than 10 years later. Continued insufficient capacity of railroad transportation became apparent following the harvest of 1906.

20th-century developments

The invention of the diesel engine in 1892 eventually led to the conversion of fuels for transportation from coal and steam to diesel and the internal combustion engine. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1909 set national policy for an intracoastal waterway from Boston to the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, and the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1910 authorized a channel on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

and St. Andrews Bay, Florida (completed in 1936), as well as a study of the most efficient means to move cargo. Between 1910 and 1914, navigation channels were deepened, and the screw propeller proved efficient for improved steering and flanking qualities. The

Panama Canal Act Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

was passed in 1911, which proved key to the revival of waterway transportation in the United States, because the opening of Panama Canal in 1914 allowed coastal shipping to extend to the U.S.

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

for the first time. The law also prohibited railroads from owning, controlling, or operating a water carrier through the canal and led to succeeding legislation that eliminated monopoly of transportation modes by railroads. The country's World War I experience demonstrated the need for bulk cargo transportation, with Congress establishing the federal barge lines and spurring development of cheaper ways to transport farm commodities, including the first use of standardized freight barges. In 1924, Congress incorporated the Inland Waterways Corporation, generally regarded as the beginning of modern water carrier operations, and in 1925 it authorized construction of the Louisiana and Texas Intracoastal Waterway, as well as surveys east of New Orleans to Apalachicola Bay; this was the first legislation to treat the ICW as a continuous whole. The River and Harbor Act of 1927 authorized the portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, using the route planned out by the Jacksonville District of the Corps of Engineers. During World War II, the need for efficient transportation of bulk materials within the continental United States was well demonstrated after German submarines sank numerous merchant ships off the East Coast. By 1942, the ICW channel was completed between New Orleans and Corpus Christi. Today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented that. Consequently, for larger ships, shoaling or shallow waters are encountered along several sections of the waterway, with these having or minimum depths from earlier improvements. While no tolls are charged for waterway usage, commercial users have been charged a fuel tax since 1978, which is used to maintain and improve facilities. That year, the Inland Waterways Revenue Act imposed a barge fuel tax; originally set at 4 cents per gallon in 1980, it was gradually raised to 10 cents per gallon by 1986. To hold these funds, the act also created the Inland Waterways Trust Fund under the U.S. Treasury, which are used to cover half the cost of new construction and major rehabilitation of the inland waterways infrastructure (33 U.S.C. ch.32). The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 was a wide-ranging bill regarding all water resources utilization nationally. Concerning transportation on waterways, this law established the Inland Waterways Users Board to make recommendations regarding construction and rehabilitation priorities and spending levels for the inland waterways, and also gradually increased the incremental fuel tax to 20 cents per gallon by 1995.

Current route

Tug & barges on Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The Intracoastal Waterway runs for most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard. The waterway consists of three non-contiguous segments: from

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, east to Carrabelle, Florida; from Tarpon Springs, Florida, south to

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

; and from

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, Florida, north to

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

(milepost 0.0). The first and second sections are collectively referred to as the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and the third is referred to as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW). The first and second sections were intended to be connected via a dredged waterway from Tarpon Springs to

St. Marks, Florida St. Marks is a city in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tallahassee metropolitan area. The population was 293 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 319. Geography St. Marks ...

(which is near Carrabelle), and the second and third sections were intended to be connected via the Cross Florida Barge Canal across northern Florida. These projects were never completed because of environmental concerns. Additional canals and bays extend a navigable waterway north of Portsmouth. Its unofficial northern terminus is the Manasquan River in New Jersey, where it connects with the Atlantic Ocean at the Manasquan Inlet. North of that is its official terminus point, the

Annisquam River The Annisquam River is a tidal, salt-water estuary in the Annisquam neighborhood of Gloucester, Massachusetts, connecting Annisquam Harbor on the north to Gloucester Harbor on the south. The segment between Gloucester Harbor and the Newburypo ...

, a U.S. Army Corps maintained channel 26 miles (42 km) northeast of Boston, Massachusetts, connecting Annisquam and

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

. The Intracoastal Waterway has a good deal of commercial activity: barges haul petroleum, petroleum products, foodstuffs, building materials, and manufactured goods. It is also used extensively by recreational boaters. On the east coast, some of the traffic in fall and spring is by snowbirds who regularly move south in winter and north in summer. The waterway is also used when the ocean is too rough for travel. Numerous inlets connect the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico with the Intracoastal Waterway. The Intracoastal Waterway connects to several navigable rivers where shipping traffic can travel to inland ports, including the Mississippi, Alabama,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

, James, Delaware,

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

, and Connecticut rivers. The

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

and Great Lakes can be accessed via connections with the Hudson River and Erie Canal.

Natural bodies of water

The following natural bodies of water are included in or connect with the Intracoastal Waterway system: * Albemarle Sound * Apalachicola Bay * St. Andrews Bay * Aransas Bay * Barnegat Bay * Biscayne Bay * Boca Ciega Bay * Bogue Sound *

Bon Secour Bay Bon Secour Bay is a bay located in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. The name ''"Bon Secour"'' derives from the French phrase meaning "safe harbor" due to the secluded location on the inside coast of the Fort Morgan peninsula of southern Alab ...

* Buzzards Bay * Cape Cod Bay * Cape Fear River * Casco Bay * Charleston Harbor * Charlotte Harbor * Chesapeake Bay * Choctawhatchee Bay *

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

* Corpus Christi Bay * Delaware Bay * East River * Elizabeth River *

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

* Halifax River *

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

* Hudson River *

Indian River Lagoon The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4,300 ...

* Laguna Madre *

Lake Cocodrie A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

* Lake Worth Lagoon * Little River *

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

* Mobile Bay *

Matagorda Bay Matagorda Bay () is a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, east-southeast of San Antonio, south-southwest of Houston, and south-southeast ...

* Mississippi Sound * Narragansett Bay * Pensacola Bay * Perdido Bay * Sabine Lake * San Antonio Bay * Sarasota Bay * Shallotte River * Waccamaw River * Winyah Bay

East Coast canals

Major freight canals

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Augus ...

Other canals

* Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal * Alligator-Pungo Canal *

Assawoman Canal The Assawoman Canal is a canal in Sussex County, Delaware. The canal links the Indian River Bay to the north with the Little Assawoman Bay to the south. It is bordered by Bethany Beach and South Bethany to the east and Ocean View to the west. B ...

* Dismal Swamp Canal * Cape May Canal * Delaware and Raritan Canal – no longer operational or part of the Intracoastal Waterway * Okeechobee Waterway * Point Pleasant Canal * Lewes and Rehoboth Canal

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway information siteHistory of the Gulf Intracoastal WaterwayAtlantic Intracoastal Waterway AssociationGulf Intracoastal Canal AssociationElizabeth City Area Convention & Visitors BureauGulf Intracoastal Waterway
at

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...