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{{Short description|Inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States}}
{{Use American English|date = September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = September 2019}}
{{Infobox canal
| name                    = Intracoastal Waterway
| image                   = Ft. Lauderdale Intracoastal Waterway.jpg
| image_size              = 
| alt                     = 
| image_caption           = Intracoastal Waterway at Sunrise Boulevard, [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]], 2010
| map                     = 
| map_size                = 
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = 
| location                = 
| country                 = [[United States]]
| length_mi               = 3000
| date_approved           = 
| date_act                = 
| date_began              = 
| date_use                = 
| date_completed          = {{Start date|1949|6|18}}
| date_extended           = 
| begin_coord             = 
| end_coord               = 
| branch                  = [[Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]]
| connects_to             = [[List of waterways forming and crossings of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway|Atlantic portion]]<br />[[List of waterways forming and crossings of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway|Gulf portion]]
| start_point             = [[Annisquam River]]
| end_point               = [[Brownsville, Texas]]
}}
[[File:Hobucken Bridge North Carolina.jpg|thumb|A section of the Intracoastal Waterway in [[Pamlico County, North Carolina]], crossed by the [[Hobucken, North Carolina|Hobucken]] Bridge]]
[[File:Inland waterways, intercoastal waterways, and navigable waterways.webp|thumb|[[Inland waterways of the United States|Inland waterways]], intracoastal waterways, and [[navigable]] [[Waterway|waterways]]]]
The '''Intracoastal Waterway''' ('''ICW''') is a {{convert|3000|mi|km|adj=on}} [[Navigability|inland waterway]] along the Atlantic and [[Gulf of Mexico]] coasts of the United States, running from [[Massachusetts]] southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of [[Florida]], then following the Gulf Coast to [[Brownsville, Texas|Brownsville]], [[Texas]]. Some sections of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, and [[Sound (geography)|sounds]], while others are artificial [[Canal|canals]]. Maintained, improved, and extensively dredged where necessary by the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]], it provides a navigable route along its length without many of the hazards of travel on the open sea.

==Context and early history==
Since the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern coastline]] represented the national border, and commerce of the time was chiefly by water, the fledgling [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] established a degree of national control over it. Inland transportation to supply the [[Short-sea shipping|coasting trade]] at the time was less known and virtually undeveloped, but when new lands and their favorable river systems were added with the [[Northwest Territory]] in 1787, the [[Northwest Ordinance]] established a radically new and free national policy for their development and transportation use.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thomson|first1=Charles|last2=et|first2=al|title=An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States, North-west of the river Ohio.|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/bdsdcc.22501/|website=The Library of Congress|access-date=16 November 2016|language=en|date=1787}}</ref> 

Over time, [[internal improvements]] of natural coastal and inland waterways would develop into the [[Great Loop]], which allows for waterborne circumnavigation of the [[Eastern United States|eastern continental United States]], using minimal ocean travel, with the Intracoastal Waterway providing its eastern end. In 1808, the first federal government report on existing, possible, and likely avenues of transportation improvement was presented; it included much of the distance where the ICW now traverses the Atlantic coast. At the request of the [[United States Senate|Senate]], Treasury Secretary [[Albert Gallatin]] presented an overall plan for future transportation developments of national importance and scope.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dozier |first1=Howard Douglas |title=A History of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad |date=1920 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |page=4 |isbn=9789992700426 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkkEAAAAMAAJ |access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref> Along with inland east–west improvements, Gallatin's north–south improvements included the following:<ref name="IWC1908Gall">{{cite web|last1=Zhulin|first1=Denis Larionov & Alexander|title=Preliminary report of the Inland Waterways Commission|url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-inland-waterways-commission/preliminary-report-of-the-inland-waterways-commission-message-from-the-presiden-tin/page-61-preliminary-report-of-the-inland-waterways-commission-message-from-the-presiden-tin.shtml|website=www.ebooksread.com|publisher=United States. Inland Waterways Commission|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref>{{Quote|The map of the United States will show that they possess a tide water inland navigation, secure from storms and enemies, and which, from [[Massachusetts]] to the southern extremity of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], is principally, if not solely, interrupted by four necks of land. These are the Isthmus of [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]], that part of [[New Jersey]] which extends from the [[Raritan River|Raritan]] to the [[Delaware River|Delaware]], the [[Delmarva Peninsula|peninsula]] between the Delaware and the [[Chesapeake Bay|Chesapeake]], and that low and marshy tract which divides the Chesapeake from [[Albemarle Sound]]. ...

Should this great work, the expense of which, as will hereafter be shown, is estimated at about three millions of dollars, be accomplished, a sea vessel entering the first canal in the harbor of [[Boston]] would, through the bay of [[Rhode Island]], [[Long Island Sound]], and the [[New York Harbor|harbor of New York]], reach [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|Brunswick]] on the [[Raritan River|Raritan]]; thence pass through the second canal to [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] on the Delaware, down that river to [[Wilmington, Delaware|Christiana]] or [[New Castle, Delaware|Newcastle]], and through the third canal to [[Elk River (Maryland)|Elk River]] and the Chesapeake, whence, sailing down that bay and up [[Elizabeth River (Virginia)|Elizabeth River]], it would, through the fourth canal, enter the Albemarle Sound, and by [[Pamlico Sound|Pamlico]], [[Core Sound|Core]], and [[Bogue Sound|Bogue]] sounds, reach [[Beaufort, North Carolina|Beaufort]] and [[Swansboro, North Carolina|Swansboro]] in [[North Carolina]]. From the last-mentioned place, the inland navigation, through Stumpy and Toomer's sounds, is continued until a diminished draught of water, and by cutting two low and narrow necks, not exceeding three miles together, to [[Cape Fear River]], and thence by an open but short and direct run along the coast is reached that chain of islands between which and the main the inland navigation is continued, to [[St. Marys, Georgia|St. Marys]] along the coast of [[South Carolina]] and Georgia. It is unnecessary to add any comments on the utility of the work, in peace or war, for the transportation of merchandise or the conveyance of persons.}}

While Gallatin discussed the details of engineering, construction, and costs, including the national benefits to accrue from lowered transportation costs between domestic and international markets, his full $20&nbsp;million, 10-year plan was never approved. That is not to say his plan was never implemented, however, for with experience in the [[War of 1812]] shortly thereafter and the attendant British blockade, the continued need for such facility was soon highlighted. Since Gallatin had based his proposals on the known advantageous natural geographic features of the country, many of his proposals became the locations of navigation improvements that were surveyed, authorized, and constructed starting with the 1824 [[General Survey Act]] and the first of many pieces of [[Rivers and Harbors Act|rivers and harbors legislation]],<ref name="GoodGallPlan">{{cite journal|last1=Goodrich|first1=Carter|title=The Gallatin Plan after One Hundred and Fifty Years|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|date=1 January 1958|volume=102|issue=5|pages=436–441|jstor=985588}}</ref> as well by individual state-built improvements.

Since these 1824 acts, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] (USACE) has responsibility for navigation waterway improvements and maintenance. All four proposed sections of Gallatin's intracoastal plan were eventually built; the [[Delaware and Raritan Canal]] was later abandoned for a better alternative, but the [[Cape Cod Canal]] remains in operation, and the Delaware and the [[Great Dismal Swamp|Dismal Swamp]] portions still form part of the larger present-day Intracoastal Waterway.

==19th-century growth==
In 1826, Congress authorized the first survey for an inland canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], government funding shifted from waterways to railroads; still, coastal improvements authorized for development included the [[Houston Ship Channel]] and the [[Delaware River]] in 1872.<ref name="InWatTime">{{cite web|title=Development of US Inland Waterways System|url=http://caria.org/iwns_timeline.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307075509/http://caria.org/iwns_timeline.html|archive-date=7 March 2016|access-date=16 November 2016|publisher=Coosa-Alabama River Improvement Assoc.}}</ref> The following year, the Senate's [[United States Senate Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard|Select Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard]] looked at the need for more haulage capacity to move freight to the coasts. But their "Report of [[William Windom (politician)|Windom]] Select Committee" their plans and recommendations "received less attention than was anticipated, of course by reason of the rapid growth of interest in railways".<ref name="IWC1908Gall"/>

In the [[Rivers and Harbors Act|River and Harbors Appropriations Acts]] of 1882 and 1884, Congress signaled its intent to improve waterways to benefit the nation by promoting competition among transportation modes. The 1882 act was the first act of Congress to combine appropriations for development of the nation's waterways with a reaffirmation of the policy of freedom from tolls and other user charges,<ref name="InWatTime"/> first stated in 1787; it was passed over President [[Chester A. Arthur|Chester Arthur]]'s veto, who considered it a waste of the federal government's growing budget surplus.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rivers and Harbors Act of 1882|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h735.html|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> In 1887, the [[Interstate Commerce Act of 1887|Interstate Commerce Act]] established federal regulation of railroads; Congress continued to promote freedom from tolls or special taxes on waterways.<ref name="InWatTime"/> In 1890, Congress passed the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]], the first federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, but the federal government used it minimally until [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s presidency more than 10 years later.

Continued insufficient capacity of railroad transportation became apparent following the harvest of 1906.<ref name="IWC1908Gall" />

==20th-century developments==
The invention of the [[diesel engine]] in 1892 eventually led to the conversion of fuels for transportation from coal and steam to diesel and the [[internal combustion engine]]. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1909 set national policy for an intracoastal waterway from Boston to the [[Rio Grande]],<ref name="InWatTime"/> and the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1910 authorized a {{convert|9|x|100|ft|m|adj=on}} channel on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between the [[Apalachicola River]] and [[St. Andrews Bay (Florida)|St. Andrews Bay]], [[Florida]] (completed in 1936), as well as a study of the most efficient means to move cargo. Between 1910 and 1914, navigation channels were deepened, and the screw propeller proved efficient for improved steering and flanking qualities.<ref name="InWatTime"/> The [[Panama Canal Authority|Panama Canal Act]] was passed in 1911, which proved key to the revival of waterway transportation in the United States, because the opening of [[Panama Canal]] in 1914 allowed coastal shipping to extend to the U.S. [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] for the first time. The law also prohibited railroads from owning, controlling, or operating a water carrier through the canal and led to succeeding legislation that eliminated monopoly of transportation modes by railroads. The country's [[World War I]] experience demonstrated the need for bulk cargo transportation, with Congress establishing the federal barge lines and spurring development of cheaper ways to transport farm commodities, including the first use of standardized freight barges.<ref name="InWatTime"/>

In 1924, Congress incorporated the Inland Waterways Corporation, generally regarded as the beginning of modern water carrier operations, and in 1925, it authorized construction of the Louisiana and Texas Intracoastal Waterway, as well as surveys east of [[New Orleans]] to [[Apalachicola Bay]]; this was the first legislation to treat the ICW as a continuous whole.<ref name="InWatTime" /> The River and Harbor Act of 1927 authorized the portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, using the route planned out by the Jacksonville District of the Corps of Engineers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jacksonville District, Setting the Pace |work=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |url=http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Divisions/Executive/Branches/CCO/DOCS/SettingThePace_DistrictOverview.pdf |access-date=2010-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722190628/http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Divisions/Executive/Branches/CCO/DOCS/SettingThePace_DistrictOverview.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-22 }}</ref> During [[World War II]], the need for efficient transportation of bulk materials within the continental United States was well demonstrated after German submarines sank numerous merchant ships off the East Coast. By 1942, the {{convert|9|x|100|ft|m|abbr=on}} ICW channel was completed between New Orleans and [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of {{convert|12|ft}} for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented that.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} Consequently, for larger ships, shoaling or shallow waters are encountered along several sections of the waterway, with these having {{convert|7|ft|adj=on}} or {{convert|9|ft|adj=on}} minimum depths from earlier improvements. While no tolls are charged for waterway usage, commercial users have been charged a [[fuel tax]] since 1978, which is used to maintain and improve facilities. That year, the Inland Waterways Revenue Act imposed a barge fuel tax; originally set at 4 cents per gallon in 1980,<ref>{{cite news | title=Trying to impose user fees or tolls on barge operators is uphill battle|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2012-03-21| url= http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/trying-to-impose-user-fees-or-tolls-on-barge-operators-is-uphill-battle-627260| access-date=2012-05-16| date=March 21, 2012}}</ref> it was gradually raised to 10 cents per gallon by 1986.<ref name="InWatTime"/> To hold these funds, the act also created the Inland Waterways Trust Fund under the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]], which are used to cover half the cost of new construction and major rehabilitation of the inland waterways infrastructure [[Title 33 of the United States Code|(33 U.S.C. ch.32)]].<ref>[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/33/usc_sup_01_33_10_32.html Ch.32]</ref> The [[Water Resources Development Act of 1986]] was a wide-ranging bill regarding all water resources utilization nationally. Concerning transportation on waterways, this law established the Inland Waterways Users Board to make recommendations regarding construction and rehabilitation priorities and spending levels for the inland waterways, and also gradually increased the incremental fuel tax to 20 cents per gallon by 1995.<ref name="InWatTime"/>

==Current route==
[[File:Tug & barges on Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.png|right|thumb|[[Tug]] and [[barge]] passing through the [[Colorado River (Texas)|Colorado River]] Locks on the [[Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]] near [[Matagorda, Texas]]]]
[[File:Intracoastal Waterway Louisiana.jpg|thumb|Navigation on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, where it intersects with [[Bayou]] Perot, in the vicinity of [[New Orleans]]]]

The Intracoastal Waterway runs for most of the length of the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern Seaboard]]. The waterway consists of three non-contiguous segments: from [[Brownsville, Texas]], east to [[Carrabelle, Florida]]; from [[Tarpon Springs, Florida]], south to [[Fort Myers, Florida]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/inside/products/pub/iwrreports/NWS-12.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-12-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725053829/http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/inside/products/pub/iwrreports/NWS-12.pdf |archive-date=2009-07-25 }} "Alperin, Lynn M., History of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, pp. 48–50, National Waterways Study, U.S. Army Water Resource Support Center, Institute for Water Resources, 1983"</ref> and from [[Key West]], Florida, north to [[Portsmouth, Virginia]] (milepost 0.0). The first and second sections are collectively referred to as the [[Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]], and the third is referred to as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW). The first and second sections were intended to be connected via a dredged waterway from Tarpon Springs to [[St. Marks, Florida]] (which is near Carrabelle), and the second and third sections were intended to be connected via the [[Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway|Cross Florida Barge Canal]] across northern Florida. These projects were never completed because of environmental concerns. Additional canals and bays extend a navigable waterway north of Portsmouth. North of the [[Manasquan Inlet]] connecting the [[Manasquan River]] in New Jersey with the Atlantic Ocean the route is coastal, traversing the balance of New Jersey offshore, [[New York Bay]], the [[East River]], [[Long Island Sound]], [[Block Island Sound]], [[Rhode Island Sound]], [[Buzzards Bay]], the [[Cape Cod Canal]], [[Cape Cod Bay]], and [[Massachusetts Bay]] before reaching an approximately 5 mile inland passage to its official terminus point, [[Annisquam, Massachusetts]], via the [[Annisquam River]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/12/archives/the-intracoastal-waterway-from-cape-cod-to-texas-something-for-all.html|title=The Intracoastal Waterway, From Cape Cod to Texas: Something for All|last=Marston|first=Red|access-date=2018-06-14|language=en}}</ref> a U.S. Army Corps maintained channel 26 miles (42&nbsp;km) northeast of [[Boston]] connecting [[Gloucester, Massachusetts|Gloucester]] and Annisquam.

The Intracoastal Waterway sees a large amount of commercial activity: barges haul petroleum and petroleum products, foodstuffs, building materials, and manufactured goods. It is also used extensively by recreational boaters. On the east coast, some of the traffic in fall and spring is composed of [[Snowbird (person)|snowbirds]] who regularly move south in winter and north in summer. The waterway is also used when the ocean is too rough for travel. 

Numerous inlets connect the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico with the Intracoastal Waterway. The Intracoastal Waterway connects to several [[Waterway|navigable rivers]] where shipping traffic can travel to inland ports, including the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]], [[Alabama River|Alabama]], [[Savannah River|Savannah]], [[James River|James]], [[Delaware River|Delaware]], [[Hudson River|Hudson]], and [[Connecticut River|Connecticut]] rivers. The [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] and [[Great Lakes]] can be accessed via connections with the [[Hudson River]] and [[Erie Canal]], and via the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Illinois River|Illinois]] Rivers and the [[Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal]] and [[Cal-Sag Channel]].

==Natural bodies of water==
The following natural bodies of water are included in or connect with the Intracoastal Waterway system:{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} 
{{div col}}
*[[Albemarle Sound]]
*[[Amelia River]]
*[[Annisquam River]]
*[[Apalachicola Bay]]
*[[St. Andrews Bay (Florida)|St. Andrews Bay]]
*[[Aransas Bay]]
*[[Barnegat Bay]]
*[[Biscayne Bay]]
*[[Boca Ciega Bay]]
*[[Bogue Sound]]
*[[Bon Secour Bay]]
*[[Buzzards Bay]]
*[[Cape Cod Bay]]
*[[Cape Fear River]]
*[[Charleston Harbor]]
*[[Charlotte Harbor (estuary)|Charlotte Harbor]]
*[[Chesapeake Bay]]
*[[Choctawhatchee Bay]]
*[[Connecticut River]]
*[[Corpus Christi Bay]]
*[[Delaware Bay]]
*[[East River]]
*[[Elizabeth River (Virginia)|Elizabeth River]]
*[[Florida Bay]]
*[[Galveston Bay]]
*[[Gulf of Maine]]
*[[Halifax River]]
*[[Hampton Roads]]
*[[Hudson River]]
*[[Indian River Lagoon]]
*[[Ipswitch Bay]]
*[[Laguna Madre (United States)|Laguna Madre]]
*[[Lake Cocodrie]]
*[[Lake Worth Lagoon]]
*[[Little River (Horry County, South Carolina)|Little River]]
*[[Long Island Sound]]
*[[Lower New York Bay]]
*[[Mobile Bay]]
*[[Matagorda Bay]]
*[[Mississippi Sound]]
*[[Narragansett Bay]]
*[[Pamlico Sound]]
*[[Pensacola Bay]]
*[[Perdido Bay]]
*[[Sabine Lake]]
*[[San Antonio Bay]]
*[[Sarasota Bay]]
*[[Shallotte River]]
*[[The Narrows]]
*[[Toms River]]
*[[Upper New York Bay]]
*[[Waccamaw River]]
*[[Winyah Bay]]{{div col end}}

==East Coast canals==

===Major freight canals===
[[File:CapeCodCanalEastEndAerial.jpg|right|thumb|Aerial photo of the [[Cape Cod Canal]] and Scusset Beach State Reservation in southeastern Massachusetts]]
*[[Cape Cod Canal]]
*[[Chesapeake and Delaware Canal]]

===Other canals===


*[[Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal]]
*[[Alligator-Pungo Canal]]
*[[Assawoman Canal]]
*[[Dismal Swamp Canal]]
*[[Cape May Canal]]
*[[Delaware and Raritan Canal]] – no longer operational or part of the Intracoastal Waterway
*[[Okeechobee Waterway]]
*[[Point Pleasant Canal]]
*[[Lewes and Rehoboth Canal]]
[[Image:Lewes and Rehoboth Canal north from Savannah Road drawbridge.JPG|thumb|left|[[Lewes and Rehoboth Canal]] in [[Lewes, Delaware]]]]


















==See also==
*[[Inland waterways of the United States]]
*[[Waterways forming and crossings of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway]]
*[[Waterways forming and crossings of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Attached KML}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121016083225/http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/AIWW.aspx U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway information site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121016083306/http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/iwrreports/NWS-12.pdf History of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]
*[http://www.atlanticintracoastal.org/ Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association]

{{Outer Banks}}
{{Crystal Coast}}
{{Rivers of Florida}}
{{Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Intracoastal Waterway| ]]
[[Category:Waterways in the United States]]
[[Category:East Coast of the United States]]
[[Category:Gulf Coast of the United States]]
[[Category:Gulf of Mexico]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Texas]]
[[Category:Sea lanes]]
[[Category:Canals opened in 1936]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of New Jersey]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Delaware]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Maryland]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Virginia]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of North Carolina]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of South Carolina]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Florida]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Alabama]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Mississippi]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Louisiana]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Texas]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Connecticut]]
[[Category:Water transportation in the United States]]
[[Category:Navarre, Florida]]
[[Category:Geography of Savannah, Georgia]]
[[Category:Biloxi, Mississippi]]