Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) is an important industry partner for the Cooper Group of Companies. Founded in 2003, WCI is a national advocate for modern, efficient, and well-maintained inland waterways, including locks and dams, and channel maintenance.
Pictured, l-r: Phyllis Harden, Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel; Senator John Boozman; Spencer Murphy, Canal Barge; Chris Blanchard, Cooper Consolidated.
America’s inland waterways consist of 12,000 miles of navigable rivers stretching across 38 states, intracoastal waterways, channels, ports, canals, and locks and dams. These waterways facilitate safe, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation of essential commodities, including grain, coal, steel, chemicals, and aggregate materials for domestic and export markets. Creating and supporting more than 541,000 jobs, inland waterways facilitate competition for farmers, manufacturers and other shippers across global markets.
Representing the Cooper Group on WCI’s Board of Directors is Chris Blanchard, Cooper Consolidated’s Managing Director, Fleet Operations.
“As a board member,” Blanchard said, “I attend several meetings each year, including an important ‘fly-in’ to Washington, D.C., where I and others from WCI meet with congressional leaders to educate them and stress the importance of having a well-maintained system of locks and dams throughout the U.S.”
In addition to policy-makers, WCI works to inform the news media and general public about the waterways’ critical importance. Whether cargo is imported or exported, it will likeley travel by barge through this vast system of rivers, locks and dams. The Cooper Group’s ability to load, unload and transport cargo by barge is only possible if vessels are able to efficiently navigate inland waterways.
“Much of the lock and dam infrastructure in the U.S. is well past its designed life span and is in a state of decay,” Blanchard said. “Failure of a lock and dam would have an enormous negative impact on the national economy.”
With aging locks and dams built in the 1920s and during the New Deal of the 1930s, modernization of these structures is key to their continued reliability for serving the transportation supply chain.
Blanchard explained, “We have to be proactive in the repair and rebuilding of these waterways, and Congress must continue to adequately fund maintenance and modernization efforts in order for the country to remain competitive in global markets.”
As WCI and its members strive to keep inland waterways operating efficiently and reliably today and for decades ahead, learn how you can get involved by visiting www.waterwayscouncil.org.