Red River Waterway Serves As Vital Economic Tool
Published Jun 27, 2008
Terry Logg ties up the Bernard P at the Port of Shreveport-Bossier, one of the region’s three public ports.
The infrastructure for Northwest Louisiana’s most recent transportation network was established long before there were other networks – before there was even a Louisiana.
The Red River Waterway has become a vital commercial travel route for numerous existing companies. It also serves as a valuable tool for recruiting new companies to the region.
“We like to see tonnage on the river, jobs and investment,” says Randy Walters, marketing director for the Red River Waterway Commission, which aids local ports in construction projects and other endeavors.
The Red River is actually North America’s newest waterway system. Congress authorized development of the river in 1968, though it wasn’t until 1994 when the project was completed. The $1.9 billion effort required straightening the stream, shoring up its banks, flood control and, most important, the installation of five locks and dams on the river.
Since its completion, four public ports have opened, including three in Northwest Louisiana. The largest is in Shreveport, while smaller ports sit on opposite sides of the river in Natchitoches and Red River Parish. The river’s initial port sits down the river in Alexandria.
Additionally, there are numerous private docks located along the river for commercial usage.
The Port of Shreveport-Bossier is the largest inland port in the state, a 2,000-acre facility that has already attracted more than a dozen businesses. Since the port opened in 1994, more than five million tons of cargo have passed through it, either on the water, on rail lines or on trucks.
The Shreveport-Bosser location has attracted a variety of businesses in a number of industries. The tenants include Ternium, a steel producer specializing in metallic-coated and painted coils; Chemtrade, which serves the oil refining and chemical industries; and Morris and Dickson Co., a pharmaceutical distributor.
And the port continues to grow. Pratt Industries U.S.A., one of the nation’s leading recycling companies, announced plans to construct a $150 million facility at the port – a development that will add 150 jobs to the local economy.
DEVELOPING DOWN RIVER
Down river, the ports of Natchitoches and Red River Parish are smaller but growing. The Port of Natchitoches, on the east side of the river, maintains 300 acres of property on the river’s lone slack water port. Its three tenants, all of which deal with aggregate or similar materials, have easy access to the water, five miles of rail tracks and several state and U.S. highways.
Across the river in Hanna, the newest port is a 50-acre facility for handling building materials. It currently has dock storage, with plans to add a 100-ton crane, more storage areas and truck scales.
Robert Breedlove oversees operations at both Natchitoches and Hanna as executive director, and says there are tremendous possibilities along the river, opportunities that benefit not just those doing the transporting.
“There’s overcrowding on the highways and with the railroads,” Breedlove says. “If you can put some more activity on the river, you can relieve some of that congestion.”
Story by Dan Markham
Photo by Todd Bennett
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