Editorial: President Obama Should Have Worked On A Farm

It is no secret that The Waterways Journal and towing-industry leaders have tried for years to teach presidents and administrations the importance of the nation’s transportation infrastructure—in our case inland waterways.

We recently visited with a farmer and may have learned a new approach, one easier to understand. The farmer shared his opinion of the actions now being taken by the Obama administration to cure the nation’s economic woes.

“Fifteen years ago,” he said, “we really ran into tough times. We were just plain short of money. I had $16,000 in the bank, my wheat field was ripe for harvest, my combine was broken down, and fixing it would take all of my savings. At the same time I had my eye on a new car that would cost about the same amount as needed to fix the combine.”

“And you did what?” we asked.

“That was never a real problem,” he said. “Common sense told me to fix the combine, harvest the wheat, sell the crop, and use some of the proceeds to buy the car.”

As nice as they may sound, we don’t need bullet trains. We need someone to fix the combine. There is no guarantee that bullet-train projects will do more than provide temporary employment and most likely they will not be self-supporting. The same billions spent on water transportation infrastructure would shore up imports and exports and support thousands of companies and jobs that will be lost if navigation structures are allowed to deteriorate and fail. In addition, such projects would provide thousands of jobs, even if temporary. But we would be taking care of an infrastructure mechanism that helps make the country economically viable. It does not make sense to flock-shoot by throwing money at projects we don’t need while neglecting infrastructure repairs. As one example—and there are many—the navigation structures on the Ohio River are in bad shape and in need of maintenance and repair. Many of the facilities are approaching or have passed their design life. Jack Weiss, president of Cincinnati Bulk Terminals, told The Cincinnati Enquirer he is worried about what would happen of those structures fail.

It is imperative that Obama and his supporters realize what happens when river locks fail. If a lock fails completely, barge traffic on the river is stopped at that point. All of the rest of the locks (above and below) can be in fine shape, but the failed lock virtually shuts down major traffic flow.

The Enquirer reports 128 Ohio manufacturing facilities and docks use the Ohio River to transport coal, grain, chemicals and other commodities. The Port of Cincinnati ships and receives 14 million tons of commodities annually. And we’re talking just about Ohio. What about the other states?

The Enquirer writer described the September 27 failure of the Markland Locks and Dam in Kentucky as catastrophic and opined that it might cost millions in repairs and lost commerce. He could have omitted the word “might.” The losses are real. An average of 53 million tons of cargo, mostly coal, stone and chemicals, pass through the 1,200-foot lock at Markland each year.

Markland is just one example. McAlpine Lock in Louisville closed for repairs in 2004. Those repairs cost $9 million. One company reported $500,000 in lost sales and another reported employee layoffs, the Enquirer reported. “A 52-day emergency closure of the Greenup Lock in Kentucky in 2003 cost the navigation industry more than $40 million,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Markland told the newspaper. On January 27 of this year, another closure occurred at Greenup when a miter gate failed.

Waterways Council Inc. warned two years ago of a potential catastrophic failure at Markland. In January the American Society of Civil Engineers gave an overall grade of D- to the nation’s inland waterways system. The Corps classified 47 percent of the nation’s 257 locks as being functionally obsolete in 2006, and ASCE said another 93 of those locks would fall into the same category by 2020 if not upgraded. The $30 billion set aside for the system over the next five years is $20.5 billion short of what is needed to deepen and widen channels, upgrade locks and dredge ports and harbors, ASCE said.

When Obama promised in his State of the Union address to focus on infrastructure, he mentioned high-speed rail and perhaps highway. He did mention the importance of doubling our exports over the next five years and said we needed to make sure our waterways are fully exploited. But does he really understand the connection between infrastructure improvements and exports? Does he understand what a calamity occurs when locks on vital waterways fail?

It is only fair to point out that the president’s newly released fiscal 2011 budget does include funds for navigation projects, including $5.4 million for Markland. But the budget is presently drawing a lot of fire from both sides of the aisle. It will go through significant change before it is approved.

In the meantime, Markland and Greenup are excellent examples of what can happen when we neglect infrastructure.

So does Nero fiddle while Rome burns? Will Obama ignore the combine after already having distributed funds for the bullet trains?

What is important is not so much what Obama said in his address about transportation infrastructure and exploiting waterways as what he does. Government has now been presented another opportunity.

Immediately following the budget’s release, Waterways Council Inc. urged Congress to adopt what it calls “a new comprehensive consensus-based package of recommendations formulated by an industry and (Corps) working group to ensure the continued vitality of the U.S. inland navigation system for the next 20 years. “If adopted, these recommendations would better address the needs of the entire system and provide more dollars for greatly needed infrastructure improvements,” WCI said.

We hope our friends in Congress are listening.

The Waterways Journal encourages letters to the editor.
Have something on your mind?
Send letters to: jshoulberg@waterwaysjournal.net.
(Please indicate whether or not your letter is intended for publication.)