Coalition of Alabama Waterways Associations Adopts Resolution in Support of Chickamauga Lock Project

The Coalition of Alabama Waterways Associations is a regional organization composed of Waterway Associations in the Southeastern United States dedicated to the continued development, improvement, and modernization of our Nation’s Inland Waterway Transportation System. During the CAWA Annual Meeting in Montgomery, Alabama on January 5, 2010 the seven member organizations unanimously adopted a resolution offered by the Tennessee River Valley Association in support of the continued construction without suspension of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Below is the resolution as adopted. The Coalition of Alabama Waterways Associations encourages support for legislation that will continue construction without suspension through completion of this critical project that has tremendous value to the Southeast, the Tennessee River Valley Region, and to our Nation. Additional information and links to CAWA Member websites is available at www.trva-tcwc.org.

Downloadable Version CAWA AL Res

A Resolution

Whereas, the Tennessee River System serves as an integral component in our Nation’s 11,000 mile interconnected Inland Waterway Transportation System and contributes to the national security of the United States; and

Whereas, the 652 miles of commercially navigable waterway provides tremendous economic benefits and opportunities to communities throughout North Alabama, the Tennessee River Valley and the entire Southeastern United States; and

Whereas, the Chickamauga Lock near Chattanooga, Tennessee serves as a critical component of the Tennessee River System providing access to 318 miles of commercially navigable waterway, the Department of Energy facilities at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and two Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power generation facilities that serve the region; and

Whereas, commodities passing through the Chickamauga Lock have origins or destinations in 17 states in the South, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions and travel an average of 1,400 miles impacting economies and industries throughout the United States; and

Whereas, the volume of freight traversing the Chickamauga Lock if displaced would require in excess of 100,000 truckloads annually on already overcrowded highway systems in the region; and

Whereas, the approximately 2 million tons of freight that annually on average pass through the Chickamauga Lock is forecasted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to grow to approximately 11.3 million tons by 2060; and

Whereas, recreational boaters use the lock at a rate of 6-to-1 over commercial vessels, and in 2008 3,985 recreational craft locked through making the Chickamauga Lock the second busiest lock for recreation on the entire Ohio River system; and

Whereas; the project’s average annual benefits are $5.7M and through FY2009 federal expenditures by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have totaled $173M resulting in a considerable investment in the project to date; and

Whereas; current and projected funding levels of the Inland Waterway Trust Fund will require construction to be suspended in the summer of 2010 for more than a decade only to resume construction when Trust Fund resources become available; and

Whereas; feasibility studies by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have found that as a result of an alkali aggregate reaction (concrete growth), the risk of possible catastrophic failure of the existing lock that has been in service since 1940 increases dramatically beyond 2010; and

Whereas; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has notified the Tennessee Valley Authority to begin the planning process for the permanent closure of the existing Chickamauga Lock to protect the public downstream of the project and Tennessee Valley Authority’s investment in other features of the project.

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, By the Coalition of Alabama Waterways Associations that we call upon the Alabama Governor and Congressional Delegation to make it known to federal policy makers and to their colleagues in the United States Congress their support for legislation that will provide funding to continue without suspension, construction through completion of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project on the Tennessee River.

Adopted January 5, 2010 by the Coalition of Alabama Waterways Associations

Alabama State Port Authority

Coosa-Alabama River Improvement Association

Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council

Tennessee River Valley Association

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council

Tri-River Waterway Development Association

Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association