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Illinois Waterway

 
 
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Wikipedia

Wikipedia has a page about Illinois Waterway

The Illinois Waterway system consists of 336 miles (541 km) of navigable water from the mouth of the Calumet River at Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois River at Grafton, Illinois. It is a system of rivers, lakes, and canals which provide a shipping connection from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The Illinois and Michigan Canal (I&M) opened in 1848. In 1900, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal replaced the I&M and reversed the flow of the Chicago River so it no longer flowed into Lake Michigan. The United States Army Corps of Engineers maintains a 9-foot-deep (2.7 m) navigation channel in the waterway. The waterway's complex northern section is referred to in various contexts for study and management as the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS).

A series of eight locks, managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, controls water flow from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River system. The upper lock, T.J. O'Brien, is 7 miles from Lake Michigan on the Calumet River and the last lock is 90 miles (140 km) upstream from the Mississippi River at the LaGrange lock and dam. The amount of water released into the Illinois often is a sore point among lake and river interests. When Lake Michigan water levels are high, lake interests want to increase the flow, and when lake levels are low, they want to restrict the flow. That is why an international treaty regulates the flow, as Canada also has an interest in Lake Michigan levels, which eventually flow into Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario.

Cargoes include bulk commodities, such as coal, chemicals, and petroleum, as well as corn, soybeans and other agricultural products.

During some winters, ice floes, especially around the locks and dams, occasionally prevent navigation on the Waterway.

Other Wikipedia pages that might relate to Illinois Waterway
[Illinois] Illinois River, through the Illinois Waterway. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. [Illinois River] the era of modern industrial shipping. The Illinois now forms the basis for the Illinois Waterway. The Illinois River is formed by the confluence of the [Great Lakes Waterway] Ocean, while the Illinois Waterway extends commercial shipping to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The Great Lakes Waterway is co-administered [Inland waterways of the United States] Mississippi River System is connected to the Illinois Waterway, which continues to the Great Lakes Waterway and then to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Many [Chicago Area Waterway System] Lakes and the Mississippi River and makes up the northern end of the Illinois Waterway. The CAWS includes various branches of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers [Illinois and Michigan Canal] ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois Waterway in 1933. Illinois and Michigan Canal Locks and Towpath, a collection of eight [Mississippi River System] inland waterways which are connected by artificial means. Important connecting waterways include the Illinois Waterway, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and [Illinois Waterway Project Office] Illinois Waterway Project Office is a maintenance shop and project office for the Illinois Waterway, the system of rivers and canals through Illinois [Walter Mickle Smith] Several of his works built in the 1920s and 1930s as part of the Illinois Waterway project are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including
 
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