00794730

Component

https://onlinepubs.trb.or...trcircular/491/491-001.pdf

A feasibility study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accommodate projected increases in commercial navigation traffic on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway over the next 50 years led to an extensive series of studies relating traffic effects to potential environmental impacts. Multidisciplinary teams were used throughout the study from different state and federal agencies, private consultants, and universities to develop scopes of work, execute experimental studies, develop and apply models, review reports and findings, and integrate study results. The integration team was responsible for the development and appplication of a systemic model that coupled the hydraulic and biological modeling components in an ecological risk assessment framework making extensive use of the data handling, analysis and pre- and post-processing capabilities of a geographic information system (GIS) developed for the entire study area. The results included a 50-year assessment of impacts to fisheries, aquatic macrophytes, mussels, and sediment transport in the system, based on the physical effects produced by variable traffic conditions. Physical effects generated by commercial vessels were estimated on a reach-by-reach basis of the river [generally 0.5 to 1.0 mi (0.8 to 1.6 km) intervals] in pools where geometric and characteristic riverine data existed by applying analytical approaches developed from more detailed studies and site-specific modeling applications. Extrapolation to areas and pools where data were less abundant was based on a hydraulic classification that subdivided the large study area into geomorphically similar areas and reaches. Environmental impacts were determined for incremental increases in traffic forecasts for each planning alternative.

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00794729

English

p. 1-13

1999-12

Transportation Research Circular

Digital/other

Figures (5) ; References (2)

Ecology; Environmental impacts; Geographic information systems; Hydraulics; Inland waterways traffic; Multidisciplinary teams; Risk assessment

Illinois Waterway; Upper Mississippi River

Administration and Management; Environment; Highways; Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors

TRIS, TRB

Jun 19 2000 12:00AM

• ASSESSMENT OF EMISSIONS AND FUEL-USE CHANGES RESULTING FROM MODAL SHIFTS IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN
• FULL-SCALE BARGE IMPACT EXPERIMENTS
• IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR UNDERUTILIZED INLAND WATERWAYS
• INNOVATIVE LOCK DESIGN: THE IN-CHAMBER LONGITUDINAL CULVERT SYSTEM
• MODELING VESSEL-GENERATED CURRENTS IN INLAND WATERWAYS