Happy New Year from the AIWA! We would like to highlight some of our Association high points in 2021, as we hit the ground running in 2022!

Board of Directors’ Officer Transitions

The AIWA had a successful 2021 due to the active participation and support of many individuals. Executive Director Brad Pickel reached his 10 year anniversary serving the organization since 2012, during the second year officer term of Board Chair David Kennedy of Boat Owners Association of the U.S. (BoatU.S.). The organization ends the year in a stable financial position with over 200 members.

As we begin 2022, we welcome our new Chair, David Dickerson of National Marine Manufacturers Association, Vice Chair Devon Carlock, Cottrell Contracting Corporation, Treasurer Michael Gerhardt, Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting, and Secretary Jerry Scarborough of Taylor Engineering, Inc.

We welcome our new officers, and thank our board of directors listed below for all they do for the waterway!

Dennis Barbour, North Carolina Beach Inlet & Waterway Association
Paul Barger, Colonial Group, Inc.
Mark Crosley, Florida Inland Navigation District
Melissa Danko, Marine Trades Association of New Jersey
Mark Epley, McDonough Marine Services
Vance Hull, Colonna’s Shipyard, Inc.
Richard Jaques, Jr., Cross State Towing
David Kennedy, BoatU.S.
Bos Smith, Stevens Towing Company
John Vannoy, Orion Marine Group

Administration and Congress

What an interesting year it has been in Washington, D.C. After the inauguration of President Biden and the beginning of the 117th Session of Congress in January, we began reaching out immediately to friends of the AIWA and new leadership who would be making decisions that would impact the maintenance of the AIWW.

We started off the year with good news as President Biden included funding in the President’s Budget for Operations & Maintenance Projects for every state along the AIWW. This was a first in more than a decade and we were grateful to see a positive step forward after years of advocating for the AIWW as one continuous marine highway project.

In March, we conducted virtual meetings with a number of Congressional offices including Congressman David Rouzer and Congressman Greg Murphy of North Carolina, to request their assistance in securing funding for the Operations & Maintenance funding for the AIWW. They joined with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to submit a letter to the House Appropriations Committee for Energy & Water to request Additional Funding for the waterway. That letter can be found here.

Over the Summer and Fall, both the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees continued their consideration of the FY22 Appropriations Bill and the chart below reflects the current status. The House of Representatives included $1.62 million more than the Senate Appropriations Committee for the state of Florida. 

We remain committed to seeing these funds passed in a FY22 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill. However, the federal government is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution until mid-February. At some point the House and Senate will need to reconcile their differences on the state allocations and the Additional Dredging Needs funding pots before a final bill can be voted on and passed.

Work continued along the waterway in 2021 on a wide range of activities! Below is a brief snapshot of the different types of projects occurring in each state:

• In Virginia, we saw operations and maintenance of the lock systems and waterways.
• In southern North Carolina, we had dredging of shallow-draft inlet crossings.
• In South Carolina, rehabilitation and maintenance projects for upland dredge material management areas was completed in preparation for upcoming dredging projects.
• In Georgia, the first in-water placement project for the construction of a bird island is underway in Altamaha Sound.
• In Florida, a new upland Dredge Material Management Area was constructed along with dredging in the Palm Valley area and Jupiter Crossroads section of the waterway.

We are pleased to report projects underway in every state along the waterway!

AIWA Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting is the preeminent gathering of experts, project managers, and users of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and 2021 did not disappoint! Held in Atlantic Beach, Florida on November 17-18, nearly 70 participants gathered with the decision makers whose work impacts the waterway. Participants were happy to be back in person and the speaker presentations can be found on our conference webpage. November 2022 Annual Meeting will find us in Norfolk, VA.

Collaboration with Associations and Stakeholder Groups

We remain connected with other Associations and stakeholder groups advocating for investments in waterway infrastructure. We appreciated the opportunity to participate in events via virtual platforms throughout the year. It was great to be on the road in late summer and fall to attend the Florida Inland Navigation District meeting in Fernandina Beach, FL, the National Waterways Conference in Baltimore, MD, and the North Carolina Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association Annual Meeting in Wilmington. We look forward to more opportunities to share our message in 2022!

Looking forward: Waterway Funding

In the first quarter of 2022, the AIWA will be very active tracking federal funding opportunities and advocating for waterway funding. In mid-January, the U.S. Corps of Engineers will release their work plan identifying projects who will receive funding through the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. In early February, the President is scheduled to release his FY23 budget kicking off the appropriations process for funds that could be available in late 2022. By mid-February, Congress will need to decide how they will be addressing the FY22 Appropriations Bills before the current Continuing Resolution expires. In total, we could be looking at an influx of millions of additional dollars for AIWW Operations & Maintenance. We will be breaking down each funding allocation in detail in subsequent newsletters, so stay tuned!

At AIWA, none of this important advocacy work could be conducted without your financial support. We greatly appreciate all of our members, and we look forward to continuing as the Voice of the Waterway in 2022, and beyond!
 

We are especially interested in two projects along the AIWW that were awarded funds in North Carolina and Virginia. The grant for North Carolina is to create a new shipping opportunity for container on barge service awarded to AIWA founding member and platinum sponsor – Stevens Towing Company. In addition, the Port of Virginia received funding to enhance the existing container on barge service on the James River. Both of these projects exemplify the opportunities the AIWW provides for freight shipment as part of the marine highway system. Summaries of the two projects are offered below and you can click here to read an in-depth article from our friends at Marine Log.

North Carolina Container on Barge Shuttle Operation (awarded $1,015,000)  Sponsored by Stevens Towing Company, grant funds were awarded for an Equipment Upgrade Project which includes the purchase of a crawler crane, two spreader bars, and a forklift. Currently, containerized cargo bound for the Port of Virginia from Edenton must reach its destination via truck, causing high amounts of volume on North Carolina and Virginia roadways. This service will run between Riverbulk Terminal in Edenton, North Carolina to locations within the Port of Virginia, and operate utilizing a 200 TEU capacity deck barge for LO/LO cargo and/or RO/RO cargo.

James River Container Expansion Project  (awarded $3,048,363)  Sponsored by the Virginia Port Authority, the grant will be used to improve lighting within the perimeter of the Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) through the installation of high mast light poles with Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures and the retrofitting of existing light poles and LED fixtures. Expanding the operational capacity at the terminal with improved lighting within the facility will allow for barge operations beyond daylight hours.

Additional information regarding the Marine Highways program can be found on the MARAD Marine Highway web page.