COCHRAN:  $1.76 MILLION AWARDED TO INCREASE
BARGE CAPACITY BETWEEN ITAWAMBA AND MOBILE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran today welcomed the award of a $1.76 million grant to support a Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority project to increase the container barge capacity between the Port of Itawamba and the Port of Mobile.

The funding was announced today by the Maritime Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, as part of its America’s Marine Highway Program.  The grant will be utilized for a Tennessee-Tombigbee Freight Project involving the purchase and modification of nine barges for a new container transportation service from the Port of Itawamba.

“As part of the marine highway initiative, this grant is intended to help increase the use of the Tennessee-Tombigbee to transport goods and relieve pressure on our highways.  The Port of Itawamba has been identified as an integral site on this inland marine highway, which should result in greater economic activity at this Mississippi port,” Cochran said.

The Maritime Administration indicates that the barge purchases and modifications could eliminate more than 4,400 truck trips annually.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Freight Project is among the Marine Highway Projects selected for development by the U.S. Department of Transportation in August.  This initiative, as part of Marine Corridor 65, promotes new container-on-barge service to function as a new route between manufacturing centers near Port of Itawamba container terminals on the Gulf Coast.

Also in August, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with the Panama Canal Authority that pledges cooperative efforts to promote the Tombigbee inland waterway as an international trade route.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile manmade shipping channel that connects the Tombigbee and Tennessee rivers, offering access to inland ports in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.