1. Navigation Development on the
Middle Mississippi River
Robert Davinroy, P.E.
Principal Consultant CDG Engineers USA
Chief, River Engineering, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
St. Louis, Missouri USA

2. Challenges for
Navigation
Development on the
Magdalena
Overcome by Lessons
from The Mississippi

7. 1 tow = 1800 trucks
35,000 trucks per day off the road
in St. Louis region

8. 12,775,000 Trucks off the
Highway at St. Louis Per
Year!!

9. Barge Navigation:
The most efficient, economic,
environmentally efficient mode of
transportation on the planet!

10. Inland waterways allow tremendous
savings in fuel consumption, reduced
greenhouse gas emissions and air
pollution, reduced traffic congestion,
fewer accidents on railways and
highways, and less noise and
disruption in cities and towns.

11. 3 meters deep
2 soccer fields long

13. South bounds,
St. Louis to
Cairo 1980
1990
2000
35 42 46
Innovative River Engineering
Navigation Growth on the
Middle Mississippi River

14. 2.4 Billion
Tons

15. Grain
Chemicals
Rock
Coal
Aluminum
Ore

17. Corn
Soybeans
Wheat
Coal
Salt
Wood Chips
Gasoline
Petroleum
Jet Fuel
Fuel Oil
Petroleum
Asphalt
Veg Oils
Kerosene
Benzene
Alcohol
Liquefied Gases
Sodium Hydroxide
Soybean Oil
Bev Alcohol
Fertilizer
Rock
Sand and Gravel

18. Minimum 3 meters deep, 100 meters wide,
with additional width in bends as required
The Present Design

19. ¿Cómo hemos llegado a donde estamos hoy

21. 1810 to 1850
4000 People Died in Steamboat Accidents
By 1880 Average Lifespan of Steamboat
18 months

22. I Need lots
of Money to
Engineer
The River! PRESIDENT GRANT
COL SIMPSON
River, Timeline of
You Are not
Getting it!
1870

24. 1890s $7.8 million
2011 $280 million !
4 % interest rate

28. THE 1930s
GREAT
DEPRESSION

30. 1899 1940s 1969
1880
96 % reduction in
dredging pre versus post
1970, navigation
channel, deep and wide

36. Magdalena’s
Biggest
Challenges
FUNDING
CONSTRUCTION
ENVIRONMENTAL

37. FUNDING
Navigation Add campaign
Create Jobs for the RECESSION
Improve Environment
Increase Colombia as Major Petroleum
Trader
Generate Transport of Other Commodities
Reduce Congestion of Highways

38. CONSTRUCTION
Taking Advantage of
Existing Natural Resources

39. Biologist
Engineer
1950 to 1993
Engineering and Environmental
Planning
on the Mississippi River
“Title Bouts”
ENVIRONMENT
Communication

40. Federal Lobbyist
Arkansas Fish and Game Biologist
Attorney
Barge Pilot
Arkansas
Waterways
Commissioner
Fish and Wildlife Manager
River Engineer
Project Manager
Hydraulic Engineer
Land Owner
Dredging Operator