Illinois The state of Illinois borders or contains over 1,000 miles of the inland waterway system. The state s western border is defined by 580 miles of the upper River. The Illinois Waterway flows for more than 300 miles, from Lake Michigan diagonally across the state joining the upper River at mile 217. The Kaskaskia River is also a part of the River system; it is navigable for 36 miles and flows into the upper River at mile 117. The Ohio River forms 133 miles of the southern border of Illinois from mile 848 at the Indiana border through mile 981 at the River. The northeastern portion of the state has 63 miles of lake shoreline and borders a vital area of Lake Michigan. The docks on Lake Michigan ship and receive commodities primarily on deep-draft ships. Illinois 2011 Domestic Internal Commodities Moved To, From and Within the State (tons in thousands; values in millions of dollars) Shipped Received Within Total Value Coal 37,162.8 1,802.3 5,695.0 44,660.1 $1,626 Petroleum 4,640.3 1,508.6 803.6 6,952.5 $4,552 Crude Petroleum 3,203.9 ** ** 3,239.1 $3,423 Aggregates 2,271.5 565.9 3,259.5 6,096.9 $58 Grains 24,500.8 379.1 141.5 25,021.4 $4,770 Chemicals 2,020.2 5,157.7 256.8 7,434.7 $5,263 Ores/Minerals 26.7 1,497.7 204.7 1,729.1 $325 Iron/Steel 820.8 2,166.0 19.6 3,006.4 $977 Others 1484.5 1,460.5 33.5 2,978.5 $282 TOTAL 76,131.5 14,537.8 10,414.2 101,118.7 $21,275 **Insufficient barge operators to release this tonnage. Also includes intraport movements that were made on inland waterways. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics An analysis of the waterborne commerce data for Illinois shows that over 76.1 million tons of commodities were shipped on the river system out of the state. Docks in the state received over 14.5 million tons from out of state inland docks. Over 10.4 million tons moved within the state. Coal was the primary commodity moved on Illinois rivers and accounted for 44% of the state s
total 2011 tonnage. The total value of Illinois domestic internal commodity movements was over $21.2 billion. Illinois 2011 Great Lakes Commodities Moved To, From and Within the State (tons in thousands; values in millions of dollars) Shipped Received Within Total Value Coal 2,891.5 41.9 0.0 2,933.4 $99 Petroleum ** ** 0.0 1,332.8 $1,114 Aggregates 114.8 623.4 0.0 738.2 $7 Grains 13.8 0.0 0.0 13.8 $3 Chemicals 0.0 ** ** 9.1 $3 Ores/Minerals 0.0 ** ** 1,592.9 $120 Iron/Steel 153.6 ** ** 711.7 $42 Others ** 806.6 ** 1,212.1 $118 TOTAL 4,409.4 4,106.8 26.3 8,544.0 $1,505 **Insufficient barge operators to release this tonnage. Includes Foreign movements made on the Great Lakes. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Illinois lake docks shipped over 4.4 million tons of commodities to other states, Canada, and other foreign countries. These docks also received over 4.1 million tons. Coal was the primary commodity moved to/from the state s lake docks and accounted for 34% of the state s total Great Lake tonnage. Illinois 2011 Domestic and Foreign Commodities Foreign Total Tons Domestic Tons Imports Exports Coal 47,593.5 47,354.0 41.9 197.6 Petroleum 8,285.3 7,519.0 43.9 722.4 Crude Petroleum 3,239.0 3,239.0 0.0 0.0 Aggregates 6,835.1 6,528.9 251.1 55.1 Grains 25,035.2 25,021.4 0.0 13.8 Chemicals 7,443.7 7,443.7 0.0 0.0 Ores/Minerals 3,322.0 1,845.1 1,476.9 0.0 Iron/Steel 3,718.1 3,135.1 549.7 33.3 Others 4,190.6 4,039.2 64.5 86.9 TOTAL 109,662.5 106,125.4 2,428.0 1,109.1 Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics In 2011, over 109.6 million tons shipped to, from, and within Illinois at 292 manufacturing facilities, terminals, and docks. Most of this tonnage (97%) was domestic traffic.
Illinois 2011 Commodities Shipped to and from Other States Shipments To Tons Top Shipments From Tons Top Louisiana 39,028.9 Grains Louisiana 8,802.3 Chemicals Indiana 12,041.9 Coal Missouri 1,091.0 Others Tennessee 8,815.8 Coal Michigan 1,027.0 Others West Virginia 886.5 Coal Ohio 5,520.8 Coal Kentucky 2,529.4 Coal Indiana 870.8 Petroleum Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Illinois docks shipped commodities to 18 states and received commodities from 18 states. Of those states, Louisiana received the most cargo totaling over 39 million tons, most of which was grain. Louisiana was also the leading state shipping to Illinois, transporting 8.8 million tons of goods to the state, most of which were chemicals. The Port of Chicago includes: Chicago Harbor; Chicago Main North and South Branch; Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal; Calumet-Sag Channel and Lake Calumet, IL; Calumet Harbor and River, IL; and the Illinois River. This port shipped and received over 20.3 million tons in 2011, making it the 37 th busiest port in the country. The Port of Metropolitan St. Louis is defined as 71 miles of the River and includes facilities on both sides of the river, Missouri and Illinois. This port shipped and received over 36 million tons in 2011, making it the 2 nd busiest inland port and the 20 th busiest of all US ports. Illinois 2011 Lock Tonnage Lock River Upbound Downbound Total Ohio River L&D 52 Ohio 44,466.5 46,501.4 90,967.9 Ohio River L&D 53 Ohio 34,737.5 46,438.5 81,176.0 Smithland L&D Ohio 38,757.1 38,950.7 77,707.8 L&D 27 20,851.4 38,207.6 59,059.0 Melvin Price L&D 19,961.1 31,626.8 51,587.9 Lagrange L&D Illinois 9,977.8 15,377.3 25,355.1 L&D 25 8,072.4 14,960.7 23,033.1 L&D 24 7,960.6 14,966.7 22,927.3 Peoria L&D Illinois 10,532.2 12,240.9 22,773.1 L&D 22 7,885.4 14,590.4 22,475.8
L&D 21 8,066.2 14,154.4 22,220.6 L&D 20 7,546.9 13,281.5 20,828.4 L&D 19 7,561.0 12,960.8 20,521.8 L&D 18 8,368.0 11,482.2 19,850.2 L&D 17 8,360.6 10,557.4 18,918.0 L&D 16 7,750.1 10,335.4 18,085.5 L&D 15 7,807.0 9,443.1 17,250.1 L&D 14 7,588.8 9,423.8 17,012.6 Starved Rock L&D Illinois 8,519.5 7,893.5 16,413.0 L&D 13 6,522.4 8,022.9 14,545.3 Marseilles L&D Illinois 8,091.1 6,451.7 14,542.8 L&D 12 6,496.6 7,829.9 14,326.5 Dresden Island L&D Illinois 7,716.3 5,701.6 13,417.9 Brandon Road L&D Illinois 7,082.5 3,678.1 10,760.6 Lockport L&D Illinois 6,997.3 3,555.5 10,552.8 Thomas J O'Brien L&D Illinois 3,985.0 2,470.6 6,455.6 Kaskaskia L&D Kaskaskia 103.7 722.8 826.5 Chicago Lock Chicago 41.5 50.5 92.0 Source: US Army Corps of Engineers Lock Performance Monitoring System There are 28 navigation locks and dams on the waterways in or bordering Illinois. There are 15 navigation projects in the portion of the River bordering Illinois. Four of these projects feature two lock chambers. The southernmost projects, Locks and Dam 27 and Melvin Price Locks and Dam have 110 x1200 main chambers and 110 x600 auxiliary chambers. Locks and Dam 15 has a 110 x600 main chamber and a 110 x360 auxiliary chamber. Locks and Dam 14 has a 110 x600 main chamber and an 80 x320 auxiliary that is over 80 years old and is used almost exclusively for locking recreation craft on a seasonal basis. Lock and Dam 19 has a single 110 x1200 chamber. The other Upper River locks that border Illinois (12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25) each have single 110 x600 chambers.
The Illinois Waterway system has nine single chamber lock and dam projects. The seven projects on the main part of the waterway have single 110 x 600 lock chambers and are over 60 years old. Thomas J. O Brien Lock and Dam on the Calumet River has a 110 x1000 chamber. Chicago Lock is an 80 x600 lock chamber in the Chicago River Control Works in Chicago Harbor Channel. Most barge traffic moving to and from Lake Michigan uses the O Brien Lock. Chicago Lock handles mostly passenger and recreational vessels. There are three navigation projects on the Ohio River bordering Illinois. They are Locks and Dam 53, Locks and Dam 52, and Smithland Locks and Dam. www.waterwayscouncil.org