Posted on 09/25/2003 8:31:20 AM PDT by Willie Green
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:03:08 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
In this high-tech, fast-paced world of supersonic flights and bullet trains, the long, flat barges that continue to crawl along the nation's rivers and canals seem a forgotten relic of a bygone era.
Yet they remain an integral part of the nation's interstate commerce, transporting almost 800 million tons of cargo a year -- about 16 percent of all inter-city freight -- via a 25,000-mile waterway system.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Fees are collected from the barge owners for the explicit purpose of upgrading the system of locks and dams that make our rivers navigable.
Those funds should NOT be diverted for other purposes.
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