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<p>[quote user="KCSfan"]</p> <p>[quote user="Sam1"]</p> <p>If the river was navigable before the dam(s) was built, and the locks were built to maintain the navigability of the waterway, then the barge operators should not be required to pay the total cost. They should share the cost proportionally with all of the potential beneficiaries. Had the damns not been built, there would have been no need for the locks.</p> <p>Before dams were built on the Missouri River, which is the longest river in America, shallow draft boats could go at least as far as present day Miles City, Montana. The Star of the West, which served as General Alfred Terry's headquarters during the ill fated Custer expedition of 1876, was anchored near the Miles City area. It was the first to bring the news of the Custer defeat back to Fort Lincoln, where Mrs. Custer and many of the wives of the men of the 7th Calvary lived.</p> <p>[/quote]</p> <p>True, the old paddle wheel steamboats could and did ply many of our rivers but with few execptions had been supplanted by railroads long before the Corps of Engineers began its massive waterway construction projects of levees, channelization and locks and dams. Design criteria for locks and dams on navigable inland waterways calls for a <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">minimum dependable channel</span></strong> depth of 9 ft. except in periods of extreme drought. This is far in excess of what would be required for the old steamboats and is <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>dictated</strong></span> by the draft of towboats and loaded barges. To maintain a minimum 9ft. pool upstream of each dam requires far more dams (and locks) than would be required if flood control were the sole objective. Comparing the navigation needs of the old paddle wheel steamboats to those of towboats and barges is tantamount to comparing apples and oranges.</p> <p>In line with the prior dicussions of ending transport subsidies and privatization it follows that the cost of constructing, maintaining and operating at least the locks and any navigation channel dredging should be fully covered by user fees paid for by the barge operators.</p> <p>Mark [/quote]</p> <p>I disagree.</p> <p>The barge operators should pay a proportional share of the cost of the water way improvements. They should not have to pay for improvements that benefit primarily others. The have successfully made this point since the Roosevelt Administration in the 1930s. </p> <p>To a certain this is a chicken and egg argument. The operators, who currently pay approximately half of the cost of the current system, through Marine diesel and excise taxes, would not have required the extensive flood control and power dams constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority as an example. Moreover, the navigation aids are used by a variety of cruise operators as well as numerous pleasure boats, some of which are of considerable size.</p> <p>In FY11 the operators contributed $84 million to the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and the U.S. Treasury contributed $90.3 million. In addition to the fuel and excise taxes collected from the operators, they paid corporate income taxes, a portion of which flowed from the U.S. Treasury to the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.</p> <p>To the extent that the barge operators don't cover their proportional share of the cost of maintaining the inland waterways, they should. This applies to all transport operators who use shared facilities.</p> <p>As point out previously, this is a long way from passenger rail, although it would be appropriate in a discussion covering the competitive context of freight rail.</p>
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