Members of the Coalition of Alabama Waterway Associations present Colonel Byron Jorns with print “The First USS Alabama” during the Mobile District Corps of Engineers Change of Command in May 2010. From left: Mike Tagert Tenn-Tom, Col. Jorns USACE, Jerry Sailors CARIA, Billy Houston Tri-Rivers, Wynn Fuller USACE, Larry Merrihew Warrior-Tom, and Cline Jones TRVA.

The Tennessee River provides tremendous benefits and opportunities for Commercial Navigation, Recreation and the Environment throughout the Tennessee Valley Region. Recreational boaters, who according to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) contribute in excess of $20 million to the Tennessee Valley economy annually, and commercial navigation share many of the same interests that include: a safe, modern, reliable and well-maintained waterway infrastructure that preserves the environment while enhancing the quality of life for all who live in or visit the Tennessee Valley.

Navigation Locks at the nine mainstream dams on the Tennessee River have served the region since the systems’ completion in the 1940’s. This valuable waterway infrastructure allows commercial tows, and recreational craft of all shapes and sizes, year round access to the 652 mile-long mainstream channel of the Tennessee River, and its numerous tributaries, that stretches from above Knoxville, Tennessee through North Alabama and on to Paducah, Kentucky where the it meets the Ohio River.

Primarily built to enhance commerce and used extensively by recreational boaters, many of the Tennessee River’s aging navigation locks are near or beyond their design life. Completed in 1940, the Chickamauga Lock near Chattanooga, Tennessee is at an increasing risk of failure due to an Alkali Aggregate Reaction (concrete growth). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and TVA have conducted feasibility studies that indicate the risk of catastrophic failure increases dramatically beyond 2010, and at some point will force the TVA to permanently close the Chickamauga Lock to all waterway traffic out of concerns for safety.

In addition to locking through 4,050 recreational vessels in 2009, that makes it the highest volume lock for recreation on the Tennessee River System, the Chickamauga Lock provides access to 318 miles of commercially navigable waterways that serve as a vital transportation artery critical to the economy of east Tennessee and the entire Tennessee Valley Region.

Commodities that pass through the Chickamauga Lock have origins or destinations in 17 states and travel an average of 1,400 miles. The eventual closure of the lock will have impacts in the heartland of America and beyond, making the Chickamauga Lock Replacement important to not only east Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley Region, but also to a large portion of the nation served by its 12,000 mile interconnected Inland Waterway Transportation System.

In 2005, preparation was begun for construction of a replacement lock that is to be built adjacent to the existing deteriorating structure. A cofferdam enclosure necessary to facilitate lock construction is scheduled for completion later this year and at that time; work at Chickamauga will be suspended for at least a decade. Funds for continued construction are not included in the President’s FY2011 Budget, and revenues of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund that are derived from the current diesel fuel tax of 20 cents per gallon paid by the commercial towing industry, are not sufficient to pay the 50 percent of construction costs for planned improvements and rehabilitation of the nations’ navigation infrastructure.

In a budget year when many of his colleagues in Congress are not requesting funding for projects in their states, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has courageously acknowledged the constitutionally mandated responsibility of Congress in the budget process stating, “When Tennesseans contact me about projects in Tennessee, it is not my job to give them the President’s phone number.” Senator Alexander has requested $26 million in the FY2011 Federal Budget to insure continued construction without suspension of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project.

Tennessee’s Senior Senator has also expressed strong support for recommendations of the Inland Marine Transportation System Capital Investment Strategy (IMTS-CIS). Consisting of members of the Inland Waterways Users Board and high-ranking officials of the USACE, a “White Paper Working Group” has worked for one year to develop the reforms that are also supported by U.S. Senators Corker (TN), Shelby (AL) and McConnell (KY) in the Tennessee Valley Region, the Tennessee River Valley Association (TRVA) and the commercial towing industry.

Key recommendations include: preservation of the 50 percent federal and 50 percent industry cost-sharing formula; prioritization of USACE Projects and improvement of the Corps’ ability to deliver projects on time and on budget; and increasing the fuel tax from the current 20 cents per gallon, to as much as 29 cents per gallon as needed to provide $110 million annually from the towing industry to fund navigation improvements and construction, thereby ensuring the timely completion of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement.

The Tennessee River Valley Association encourages support for U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander’s efforts in Congress on behalf of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project. In addition, Congress should immediately enact legislation that will implement the recommendations of IMTS-CIS that will not only assure the timely completion of the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project, but will also provide a reliable funding source for future waterway infrastructure development and improvements throughout the nation.

These efforts will ensure the Tennessee River continues to provide the benefits and opportunities to Commercial Navigation, Recreation and the Environment that make vital contributions to the economy and quality of life in the Tennessee Valley Region.

This ‘Pic of the Valley’ is of the 110′x800′ Cheatham Lock on the Cumberland River during normal water conditions. The historic flooding that occurred at the beginning of May 2010 inundated the lock, including the elevated control rooms that can be seen in photo, damaging critical equipment that left the lock that provides navigation to the Nashville area and beyond inoperable. Cheatham Lock returned to restricted/limited service on Monday 24, 2010 at 6:00AM, with the first lockage in three weeks dedicated to providing the U.S. Coast Guard an opportunity to replace navigation aids, many of which were deposited in adjacent corn fields by the flood waters, to the Cumberland River between the Cheatham Lock and Gallatin, TN. The Coast Guard has successfully replaced the navigation aids between Cheatham and the Ohio River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is aggressively working to return Cheatham to regular service using every electrician from every lock in the Nashville District in an effort that will replace every electrical wire in the system. Normal operations will not likely return before the 18th of June, dependent on equipment delivery and installation, when all of the critical components of the system can be tested and verified as fully functional.

August 16-18, 2010

Battlehouse Renaissance Hotel

Mobile, Alabama

Background:

The Bush and Obama Administrations have repeatedly proposed a lockage fee to replace the diesel fuel tax paid by commercial users of the nations’ inland waterways. The waterways industry, related trade associations, and the U.S. Congress have opposed this new tax citing the inequities of levying such fees on only waterways that rely on locking segments of their systems. Revenues of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund derived from the current fuel tax of 20 cents per gallon are not sufficient to pay the 50 percent of construction costs for planned improvements and rehabilitation of navigation structures.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working with representatives of the towing industry for more than one year, have completed an “Inland Marine Transportation System Capital Investment Strategy” (IMTS-CIS). That effort explored a more comprehensive solution to not only address cost sharing revenue generation, but to establish investment priorities and to improve project delivery that will shorten completion schedules and control escalation of project costs. The Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB) unanimously approved the following recommendations of IMTS-CIS during a meeting on April 13, 2010 in Washington DC.

Key Recommendations:

The IWUB proposes an investment strategy of $380 million annually over a 20-year period of which $320 million would be for new construction and $60 million for major rehabilitation of locks. Included is a management reserve of $30 million. This recommended investment plan compares to unconstrained program needs of $900 million annually over the same time period. The proposed plan emphasizes completion of on-going projects, including the Chickamauga Lock Replacement and the Kentucky Lock Addition, and reflects a prioritization of competing project needs based on economic return and risk and reliability factors, including dam safety. This funding strategy maintains the 50/50 cost sharing formula, but includes significant changes in other current policies including:

-New lock construction and major rehabs costing less than $100 million would be 100% federally funded.

-Costs related to dam improvements would also be 100% federally funded since these structures serve many beneficiaries.

-Additional trust fund revenues would be raised to support this plan by increasing the current diesel fuel tax by 30% to 45% (6 to 9 cents per gallon) as needed.

-Based on these changes, the $380 million annual program would result in $270 million in federal funds and $110 million in tax revenues.

-Caps would be placed on project costs, beyond which users (trust fund revenues) would not be responsible for overruns; and,

-Lessons learned, where appropriate, would be applied from the Corps’ military construction program as well as other means to improve project delivery.

A major component of the IWUB strategy is to initiate measures that would facilitate more cost-effective uses of available funding by minimizing protracted construction delays that result in unnecessary added costs and benefits foregone.

Fundamental to the success of this investment strategy is the premise that those projects under construction would be fully funded based on need capabilities and those funds be efficiently utilized by the Army Corps’ of Engineers.

Tennessee River Valley Association and Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council Position:

The Tennessee River Valley Association and Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council endorses the concepts of the Inland Waterways Users Board Capital Investment Strategy Team’s new program that completes on-going projects, including the Chickamauga Lock Replacement and the Kentucky Lock Addition, and provides a reliable funding source for future waterway development and improvements. The TRVA recommends the Congress enact legislation that will immediately implement these needed changes in policy.

Adopted April 30, 2010

August 24-26, 2010

Marriott Grand Hotel

Point Clear, Alabama