I am happy to announce that yesterday marked the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway’s 2011 navigation season. Here at the Department of Transportation, that's an exciting sign that spring has truly arrived.
The start of the 53rd Navigation Season follows a very productive winter maintenance period, during which Seaway crews worked on a number of important asset renewal projects, including dewatering and covering locks.
1st vessel through: the Avonborg carries wind turbine components bound for Indiana through the St. Lambert lock
Our St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC)’s 10-year Asset Renewal Program represents the first comprehensive effort to repair and modernize the U.S. Seaway infrastructure. Without such significant reinvestment in the Seaway, it would become increasingly difficult to keep our bi-national waterway open for business.
Maintenance and asset renewal is especially important since Seaway traffic is predicted to grow for a second straight year in 2011, a great sign for our economy.
The Great Lakes-Seaway shipping system supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. As Stephen Wilkes of Tata Steel said at yesterday's opening, "Marine transportation plays a key role for the steel industry and its customers, enabling the efficient movement of raw materials, semi-finished, and finished products which directly contribute to the Canadian and U.S. manufacturing base."
SLSDC Administrator Collister Johnson Jr. noted at the opening that marine shipping continues to be the most energy efficient mode of freight transportation. "In an era of rapidly rising fuel prices," Administrator Johnson said, "moving more cargo via the marine mode will reduce our dependence on imported petroleum and bolster our national security."
SLSDC Administrator Collister Johnson, Jr. (center with scarf) at yesterday's Seaway opening
I know that, however busy the Seaway gets this shipping season, our Seaway professionals will do their part to keep this vital economic artery open and ensure the safety of the cargo and crews passing through this important waterway.
Since the Seaway opened in 1959, more than $375 billion in cargo weighing more than 2.5 billion metric tons has passed through its locks. And this year, we expect to add another 39 million tons to this impressive record.
Best of luck to shippers and crews for a successful 2011 navigation season!
Most visitors to the St. Lawrence Seaway do not realize there is a bicycle route on both sides of the St. Lawrence from Montreal QC/Massena NY to Lake Ontario. There is a on road/off road trail on the Ontario and Quebec west side of the River; and a wide shouldered (6+ foot) New York State highway on the west side of the River from Montreal QC/Massena NY to Lake Ontario at Kingston ON/Cape Vincent NY. Cyclotour Guide Books publishes this route in its "'Round Lake Ontario: A Bicyclist's Tour Guide, 3rd Ed." Cyclotour Guide Books also publishes bicycle tour guide books for four of the five Great Lakes.
Posted by: Harvey Botzman | March 23, 2011 at 10:25 AM
If we had a transportation bill, now 540 days missing, address the billions of dollars we're wasting every year due to an outdated 1980s model of freight transportation running over an infrastructure $2.2 trillion in disrepair we wouldn't be handing out billions in Tiger grants to fix the problems.
Fuel prices are going up taking freight rates with, food prices up 4%, cargo theft, infrastructure costs, accidents, health care costs, insurance, traffic congestion, and more!
http://www.fasterbettersafer.org/map.html
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/fact-sheet/roads a matter of economic and national security?
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/ You can go to each state from this site and break down problems from traffic congestion, roads, to you name it.
http://www.uschamber.com/lra
http://www.eesi.org/energy-innovation-our-nations-defense-29-jul-2010
www.supplychainbrain.com videos
Introduction to Enterprise Resilience
Dr. Joseph Fiksel
Exec. Director
Center for Resilience
The Ohio State Univ.
http://www.resilience.osu.edu/CFR-site/aboutus.htm
Why does the DOT hate working class Americans they send to war to defend this nation with their lives? What is the real goal of the DOT in NOT fixing the problem in transportation while spending billions in adding to the nation's expense when we're already broke?
9 put of 10 trucking companies go out of business in the first two years, 82% of lease to own/Operators fail while trucking co.s leasing to them know this, plan around this to profit costing states, and nation billions! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/truthabouttrucking/2011/01/21/is-2011-the-year-for-owner-operators
http://www.atri-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=71
http://www.atri-online.org/research/results/Homeland%20Security%20Trucking%20Industry%20ATRI%20Final.pdf
Posted by: Scott Tisthammer | March 23, 2011 at 01:06 PM
Yesterday also marked World Water Day, which serves as an annual global celebration of water and a day of action focused on protecting our precious water resources. The St. Lawrence River is the outfall for the entire Great Lakes system - 20% of our worlds fresh water and drinking water supply for millions of Americans and Canadians. As a result, management of the St. Lawrence Seaway has a significant influence on the health of our waterways.
Save The River and our River communities are deeply concerned about the Seaway's campaign to project a 'green' image, as seen in the blog posting above. The Seaway agencies and shipping industry have systematically put themselves on the wrong side of environmental policy debates, fighting ballast regulations, efforts to clean up ship smokestack emissions, etc.
Please take a moment to read our perspective on the opening of the Seaway season - Words or Actions: Is the Seaway Green or Greenwashing? (http://savetheriver.us/?p=1910) A great start on a true effort to 'green' the Seaway would be for the Seaway to drop opposition to New York's ballast rules and instead work toward regional adoption of these rules. I wonder how much time and money has been spent on fighting these rules, which would have been better spent funding new ballast clean-up technology on board ships.
Posted by: Jennifer Caddick, Save The River Executive Director | March 23, 2011 at 04:04 PM