Jefferson Seaway facts for kids

The Jefferson Seaway was a big idea for a deep shipping channel in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. It would have connected the Mississippi River near Westwego to the Gulf of Mexico close to Grand Isle. The Mississippi River was the only way for large ships to reach New Orleans and its nearby ports. In the mid-1900s, people thought about building other routes. One of these, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO), was built. The Jefferson Seaway, also called the "Arrow to the Americas" or "Mississippi Valley Seaway Canal," was considered but never built for large ships.

Why a New Waterway?

For a long time, the only deep path for ships to New Orleans was the Mississippi River. Before the 1870s, the river's mouth had lots of mud and sand. This made the water only about 18 to 20 feet deep. This was too shallow for many big ships from other parts of the United States and Europe.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who build and manage waterways, thought about digging a channel. But they chose a different idea from James Buchanan Eads. Eads suggested building parallel walls, called jetties, into the river. These jetties would make the river flow faster in one spot. This faster flow would naturally dig out the river bottom, making it deeper.

Work on Eads' jetties started in 1875 and finished by 1879. Thanks to these jetties, the river stayed about 30 feet deep. This solved the problem of the shallow river mouth for a while.

But another idea was also popular: a man-made ship canal. Captain John Cowdon proposed this. In 1876, a newspaper called the Daily Picayune reported on Eads' progress. But it also talked about Captain Cowdon's plan for a different project. He wanted to build a ship channel along the Barataria area.

In 1877, Captain Cowdon shared his plan with a group in New Orleans. He called it "The Barataria Ship Canal and its Importance to the Valley of the Mississippi." He wasn't sure Eads' jetties would work in the long run. He pushed for a ship canal built away from the river, along Bayou Barataria. Cowdon believed his canal would be a lasting fix. He thought Eads' jetties would need constant, expensive upkeep.

Because of many different ideas about flood control and shipping, the U.S. Congress created the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. This group had seven members, including experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They reported directly to the Secretary of War.

For a while, Eads' successful jetties made people forget about a man-made ship channel. But Captain Cowdon's idea would come back later.

Smaller Waterways Built

Two smaller navigation projects were built along the path where the Jefferson Seaway was planned. These were for "shallow-draft" boats, meaning boats that don't need very deep water.

In 1919, the U.S. government passed the Rivers and Harbors Act. This law allowed for a shallow channel to be dug. It would go from Lake Salvador at Bayou Villars to Barataria Pass at Grand Isle. This channel would be 5 feet deep and 50 feet wide. It would connect existing canals and new ones dug through marshland. This new waterway, called the Barataria Bay Waterway, was 37 miles long when it was finished in 1925. Part of it is called Dupree Cut. This was the first time the proposed Jefferson Seaway route was straightened and dug out.

In the 1920s, plans began for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). This was like a sheltered "water highway" along the coast for smaller boats. Near New Orleans, existing canals were used for this route. The western entrance to the Mississippi River was through the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal and its lock, finished in 1923. The eastern entrance was through the Harvey Canal, which got new locks in 1934 as part of the GIWW project. Another western entrance was added later, the Algiers Canal and lock, completed in 1956.

Oil and gas companies started exploring near Lafitte in 1935. This meant they needed deeper water for their barges to get from the GIWW and Gulf of Mexico to the oil fields. So, in 1949, Jefferson Parish suggested making the Barataria Bay Waterway deeper and wider. U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs helped get federal money for this. The project was approved in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1958. The Barataria Bay Waterway was deepened to 12 feet and widened to 125 feet by 1960. This was the second time the future Jefferson Seaway route was made bigger.

The Idea Comes Back

In 1933, a company called Westwego Canal and Company, Inc. brought Captain Cowdon's old idea back to life. They published a plan called "Prospectus of New Orleans Ship Canal, Inc." This plan included a map showing a straight path for a ship channel. It would run between the Mississippi River at Westwego and Grand Isle. The plan admitted that Eads' jetties had been successful. But it said that trade had grown so much that the jetties were no longer enough.

The plan mentioned three possible routes for a new deep channel.

• The first was the Mississippi River Commission's idea to dig a channel east from Pilot Town.
• The second was through the Industrial Canal, then Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borne, out to the Mississippi Sound. This was an early version of the MR-GO idea.
• The third route, which the company focused on, was the Westwego–Grand Isle path.

In May 1936, Louisiana Senator Jules G. Fisher from Jefferson Parish also pushed for a ship canal. He wanted it to connect Grand Isle with the Intracoastal Canal and the Westwego Canal.

Competing Deep Water Projects

In 1943, two different plans for deep-water channels were presented to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One was from Jefferson Parish, and the other from the Dock Board of New Orleans.

The New Orleans plan was called the "Alexander Seaway." It was named after Col. Lester F. Alexander, a marine contractor and a key person behind the New Orleans plan. This route was east of the Mississippi River. It was an extension of earlier plans for the Industrial Canal (IHNC). It would eventually lead to a ship outlet into Lake Borne and the Mississippi Sound.

Jefferson Parish's plan was called the "Arrow to the Americas." It was west of the Mississippi River. This plan was basically an updated version of Captain James Cowdon's ideas from 1874.

The Jefferson Seaway was designed to be either 500 or 600 feet wide, 40 feet deep, and 55 miles long. This was much shorter than the Mississippi River's 110-mile path from its mouth. It was also shorter than the Alexander Seaway, which was 76 miles long. The Jefferson Seaway project also included a new four-lane toll highway. This highway would run alongside the entire 55-mile ship channel from Westwego to Grand Isle.

To connect to the Mississippi River, the Jefferson Seaway needed new locks built at Westwego. Locks are like water elevators that raise or lower ships between different water levels. Older locks had been built here around 1870 by a railroad company. But these old locks were closed in 1956, the same year the new Algiers Canal and locks opened.

Shipping in the Gulf of Mexico is affected by the Panama Canal, which connects to the Pacific Ocean. The original Panama Canal locks, finished in 1914, were 110 feet wide and 1,050 feet long, with about 41 feet of water depth. The locks planned for the Jefferson Seaway would have been 80 feet wide and 800 feet long, with 40 feet of water depth. Even though they were smaller, Jefferson's locks would have allowed ships with similar depths to pass through.

The Jefferson Seaway plan claimed several benefits over the competing project:

• It was a much shorter route.
• It offered direct access to oil and gas fields.
• It was closer to Central and South America.
• It would cost less to buy the land needed for the project.

Choosing a Project

When deciding between the Jefferson Seaway and the Alexander Seaway, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans first preferred the Jefferson project. However, when the USACE Vicksburg Division reviewed the findings, they suggested using the existing Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) locks to connect the Alexander Seaway to the Mississippi River. These IHNC locks, completed in 1926, were 75 feet wide, 640 feet long, and had 31 feet of water depth. This was much smaller than both the Panama Canal locks and the proposed Jefferson Seaway locks.

Since the Alexander Seaway wouldn't need new locks, it seemed cheaper on paper. This was true even though it was longer and had smaller locks. So, the Alexander Seaway was chosen. In 1944, the Louisiana Legislature gave the governor power to help the federal government build the tidewater seaway on the east side of the river. That same year, the USACE took over running the IHNC locks.

Even though the federal government seemed to favor the Alexander Seaway, officials in Jefferson Parish kept pushing for their proposed Jefferson Seaway.

In 1947 and 1948, before Congress made a final decision, Jefferson Parish continued to argue that the Jefferson Seaway was better. They said it would save a lot of money because the cost estimates for the Alexander Seaway were wrong. They also pointed out that the proposed Algiers Canal and locks were not as good as the Westwego locks for the Jefferson Seaway. If the Jefferson Seaway was built, the Algiers Canal and locks wouldn't be needed, saving even more money.

Jefferson Parish also noted that the Dock Board controlled all riverfront property in Orleans Parish. This meant the New Orleans option would help the Dock Board keep its control over property. In Jefferson Parish, land along the Mississippi River was privately owned.

Considering all these points, Jefferson Parish was sure its seaway was the better choice.

Final Decision and End of the Dream

In 1956, despite Jefferson Parish's arguments, Congress made its final choice. They officially approved the Alexander Seaway project. It was renamed the "Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet" (MR-GO). This was part of the River and Harbor Act bill, approved on March 29, 1956. It was expected to cost $88,000,000. Construction began in 1958 and was finished in 1968. Large ships could start using parts of it as early as 1963.

Even though the federal government had decided to fund the MR-GO, Jefferson Parish still tried to build its version of the seaway. In 1956, the Police Jury (a local government body) thought about selling bonds to pay for the seaway project locally. In 1958, the Jefferson Industrial Seaway Commission met with experts. They continued to pursue their project, which would have needed local money to build.

The idea was promoted at least into the early 1960s. Congressman Hale Boggs continued to support the Jefferson Seaway project. He believed it was still needed, even with the MR-GO being built.

As late as 1961, Jefferson Parish still promoted the Jefferson Seaway project. They thought that the success of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet would lead to even more demand for shipping. Jefferson Parish hoped that private companies would fund and drive their seaway project. However, the Jefferson Seaway was never built as a deep shipping channel. The Barataria Bay Waterway, however, continues to be used for smaller boats.

The MR-GO operated for 46 years. It was eventually closed down in July 2009.