Just about every American knows the sheer animal frustration of sitting in traffic. Numerous studies have also pointed to the serious economic toll that traffic jams exact. Less understood, however, are the major problems that congestion on the nation’s inland waterways present.

The inland waterway system – some 12,000 miles of waterways, connected by 240 locks, and used for commercial transportation by barge – are a bit like the veins and arteries of the United States. Unseen and unthought-of by most Americans, they provide vital transportation routes for chemicals, coal, petroleum, and other products. Some 60 percent of the nation’s grain exports, for example, are shipped by barge.