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Show Appendix 5 I. Brief Analysis of the Federal Inland Waterway Program 1. The Federal river and harbor program, which includes improvements of inland waterways, has been in effect since 1824, when Congress passed the first appropriation act for improvement of rivers and harbors. The total costs of this program to the Federal Government from this beginning until June 30, 1948, as set forth in the annual report of the Corps of Engineers for fiscal year 1948, may be summarized as follows: Seacoast harbors and channels________$1, 275, 642, 000 Great Lakes harbors and channels_____ 363, 479, 000 Inland and intracoastal waterways____ 1, 789, 991, 000 Total______________________ 3, 429, 112, 000 The total cost for inland and intracoastal waterways of $1,789,991,000 includes $1,184,093,000 for new work (construction), and $605,898,000 for maintenance and operation. This cost for inland waterways does not in- clude improvements in the lower reaches of rivers, such as the Mississippi below Baton Rouge and the Delaware River to Philadelphia, which are for seagoing traffic and are included as coastal harbors and channels. 2. In this paper an effort has been made to present a concise and factual summary and analysis of the Federal inland waterway program. To this end 15 projects have been selected and analyzed. The results are summarized in table 1. The 20-year period ending June 30, 1948, has been selected for this analysis in order to make use of cost figures given in the latest published report of the Corps of Engineers, and because 1948 is the latest year for which complete waterway traffic records are available. Records of waterborne cargo movements prior to 1929 are frag- mentary and unsatisfactory as a basis for computing sav- ings, which precluded analysis of a longer period. 3. The selected waterways constitute the great bulk of the inland waterway program as indicated by the following comparisons: TABLE 1.-Comparison of traffic and Federal cost of selected waterways Total Federal costs: In dollars............... Percent of total........ Waterway traffic: Cargo in thousands of ton-miles 1948......... Percent of total_______ 15 waterways 1,411,362,000 79 29,195.000 80 All other waterways 378,629,000 21 7,268,000 20 Total 1,789,991,000 100 36,463,000 100 4. The only major active waterways not analyzed in- clude the Tennessee River which was omitted because of its interrelationship with the Tennessee Valley Authority; and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway which was omitted because of its use and value for recreational boating which could not be reflected in a commercial traffic analysis. The other waterways not analyzed are small feeder chan- nels of less than 9-foot depth, or natural river channels kept open for light draft traffic by occasional snagging and clearing operations. While these small improvements con- stitute the greater length of navigable channels they carry very little commercial cargo and have represented rela- tively small part of the Federal expenditure for inland waterways. 5. The total Federal costs for the group of 15 waterways have been as follows: New work (construction) : Original projects (superseded)____ $96,471,000 Existing projects________________ 870, 379, 000 Total_______________________ 966, 850, 000 Maintenance and operation: Prior to fiscal year 1929__________ 113, 463, 000 From 1929 to 1948, inclusive______ 331, 049, 000 Total_______________________ 444, 512, 000 Total Federal cost (except in- terest) ____________________1,411,362,000 Annual charges.-For purposes of comparison with an- nual benefits the costs of the 15 waterways have been ex- pressed in terms of total annual charges for each year, including maintenance and operation and interest and. amortization. Interest and amortization has been com- puted using an interest rate of 3 percent and a 50-year- economic life, and applying them to costs as they build, up during the 20-year period, beginning with costs un- amortized at the start of the period. These annual charges are summarized in table 1. 6. Categories of projects.-The 15 selected waterways fall generally into 4 categories: (a) On certain waterways, exemplified by the lower Mississippi, Ohio, Monongahela, and Warrior, traffic has developed prior to the 20-year period under considera- tion, and has continued at a reasonably high level or has grown steadily. These projects show a substantial eco- nomic return to the Nation on all Federal funds expended. 421 |