USACE Waterway Lock Inventory

Name: USACE Waterway Lock Inventory
Creator: ClarityStorm
License: https://www.claritystorm.com/license

US Army Corps of Engineers — All 234 Navigable Waterway Locks

The only structured, analysis-ready dataset covering all 234 USACE navigable waterway locks. Physical characteristics, dimensions, geographic coordinates, gate types, channel depths, and ClarityStorm-computed capacity tiers and volume indices — for every active, inactive, and historical lock across the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, and 60+ other river systems. Essential reference data for barge logistics analysts, infrastructure researchers, and commodity traders building lock-routing models.

Sample: Public DomainPaid: Commercial LicenseCSV + ParquetAnnual Updates1993–PresentThroughput ScoresDelay Analytics200+ Locks

Why not pull it directly from USACE?

The USACE publishes lock data across fragmented systems — ArcGIS feature services, Oracle APEX portals, and individual Excel workbooks. Here's what we handled:

✓ Unified all 234 locks — merged the USDOT/BTS ArcGIS waterway lock inventory into a single flat CSV + Parquet with consistent snake_case field names
✓ Status code expansion — mapped numeric status codes (1–7) to human-readable labels: Active, Inactive, Abandoned, Non-Federal, etc.
✓ Gate type normalization — standardized gate type labels (Miter Gate, Tainter Gate, Vertical Lift, etc.) across the dataset
✓ USACE region mapping — added region column by resolving district and division codes to named USACE regions (Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes & Ohio Valley, etc.)
✓ Capacity tier classification — classified each lock as Large / Medium-Large / Medium / Small based on usable chamber dimensions
✓ Chamber volume index — computed chamber_volume_index (length × width × lift) as a single proxy metric for lock size and throughput capacity
✓ Age computation — added age_years derived from year_opened for age-stratified infrastructure analysis
✓ Geographic coordinates included — WGS 84 latitude/longitude for every lock, ready for geospatial joins
✓ Parquet output — columnar storage for fast filtering and joins across 234 locks and 56 fields

⏱ Skip the ArcGIS API calls, status code decoding, and field normalization. Ready for analysis in minutes.

234

Locks Covered

60+

Waterway Systems

States

Schema Fields

Use Cases

Commodity Trading & Agricultural Flow Analysis

Track grain, coal, petroleum, and chemical tonnage flows on the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois River systems by lock. Identify seasonal shipping patterns, bottleneck locks, and direction ratios to model commodity flow changes ahead of price moves.

Barge Logistics & Route Optimization

Use delay hours and delay-per-lockage metrics to identify chronically congested locks on critical waterway corridors. Model tow scheduling windows by season and direction to minimize transit time on multi-lock river routes.

Infrastructure Investment Research

Score locks by throughput score and utilization tier to prioritize USACE modernization investment. Identify aging locks with high traffic volumes and rising delay trends — an input for federal infrastructure analysis and budget advocacy.

Freight Market Intelligence

Compare waterway freight volumes against rail and road data to model intermodal mode-share shifts. Use YoY tonnage deltas by waterway and commodity to identify emerging or declining cargo flows affecting barge freight rates.

Climate & Drought Impact Modeling

Analyze how drought years and low-water events affect lockage volumes and delay hours by river system. Low Mississippi River levels in 2022–2023 severely impacted lock operations — quantify those disruptions from the historical record.

Supply Chain Resilience Studies

Map critical lock dependencies for agricultural export corridors (Ohio → Mississippi → Gulf). Stress-test supply chains against lock failure or congestion scenarios using historical throughput scores and delay data.

Schema

Single table — usace_waterway_locks — delivered as CSV + Parquet. Fields marked computed are derived by ClarityStorm from USACE source data.

Field	Type	Description
lock_name	string	USACE PMS lock name (short identifier)
nav_structure_name	string	Full navigation structure name (e.g. SACRAMENTO BARGE CANAL LOCK)
ndc_code	string	USACE Navigation Data Center unique lock identifier code
waterway	string	River or waterway system (e.g. OHIO, MISSISSIPPI, ILLINOIS)
waterway_project	string	USACE navigation project name (e.g. OHIO RIVER)
state	string	State abbreviation where the lock is located
district	string	USACE district code (e.g. LRL, MVN, NWP)
division	string	USACE division code (e.g. LRD, MVD, NWD)
region	string	USACE region name — Great Lakes & Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley, etc. (computed)
river_mile	float	River mile marker of the lock location
bank_side	string	Bank side: L = left bank, R = right bank
town	string	Nearest town
county	string	County name
latitude	float	Lock latitude (WGS 84)
longitude	float	Lock longitude (WGS 84)
status	string	Lock status: Active, Inactive, Under Construction, Abandoned, Non-Federal, Demolished, Proposed
year_opened	int	Year the lock opened for navigation
age_years	int	Years since the lock opened (computed from 2024)
num_chambers	int	Number of lock chambers
chamber_length_ft	int	Lock chamber length in feet
chamber_usable_length_ft	int	Usable chamber length in feet
chamber_width_ft	int	Lock chamber width in feet
chamber_usable_width_ft	int	Usable chamber width in feet
lift_ft	int	Water lift height in feet (elevation change per lockage)
upper_approach_depth_ft	int	Upper approach channel depth in feet
lower_approach_depth_ft	int	Lower approach channel depth in feet
upper_miter_sill_depth_ft	int	Upper miter sill depth in feet
lower_miter_sill_depth_ft	int	Lower miter sill depth in feet
channel_length_miles	int	Navigation channel length in miles at this lock
channel_depth_upper_ft	int	Upper approach channel depth in feet
channel_depth_lower_ft	int	Lower approach channel depth in feet
channel_width_upper_ft	int	Upper approach channel width in feet
channel_width_lower_ft	int	Lower approach channel width in feet
gate_type	string	Gate type: Miter, Tainter, Vertical Lift, Sector, Wicket, etc.
gate_type_label	string	Expanded gate type label (computed)
has_mooring	bool	Lock has mooring facilities
has_lpms_data	bool	Lock reports to the USACE LPMS performance monitoring system
chamber_volume_index	int	Chamber volume proxy — usable length × usable width × lift (computed)
capacity_tier	string	Lock capacity tier: Large / Medium-Large / Medium / Small (computed from chamber dimensions)

Quick Start

import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_parquet("usace_waterway_locks.parquet")

# All Large-capacity locks on the Ohio River system
ohio_large = df[(df["waterway"] == "OHIO") & (df["capacity_tier"] == "Large")]
print(ohio_large[["lock_name", "river_mile", "chamber_usable_length_ft", "chamber_usable_width_ft", "lift_ft"]])

# Locks by capacity tier across waterway systems
print(df.groupby(["waterway", "capacity_tier"]).size().unstack(fill_value=0))

# Oldest active locks (infrastructure risk candidates)
active = df[df["status"] == "Active"].sort_values("age_years", ascending=False)
print(active[["lock_name", "waterway", "state", "year_opened", "age_years", "capacity_tier"]].head(20))

# Locks with highest chamber volume index (largest throughput capacity)
print(df.sort_values("chamber_volume_index", ascending=False)[
    ["lock_name", "waterway", "district", "chamber_volume_index", "capacity_tier"]
].head(15))

# Geographic distribution: locks by state and district
print(df.groupby(["region", "state"])["lock_name"].count().sort_values(ascending=False))

Pairs Well With

ClarityStorm: NOAA Storm Events

Correlate lock delay spikes with flood events, drought low-water events, and severe weather on waterway corridors. Quantify how extreme weather disrupts inland navigation throughput.

External: USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics

Join lock performance data with USACE Waterborne Commerce commodity flow tables to link tonnage by commodity type (grain, coal, petroleum) to specific lock and waterway segments.

Pricing

Sample

Free

1,000 rows (CSV) + full schema documentation

Public Domain

Download Sample

Complete

$99

Full dataset — 234 locks, 56 fields, all waterways, CSV + Parquet

Commercial License

Buy Complete

Annual

$199/yr

Full dataset + annual updates as USACE adds or modifies lock inventory

Commercial License

Data Provenance

Source: US Army Corps of Engineers, Navigation Data Center — Lock Performance Monitoring System (LPMS).

Coverage: All 234 navigable waterway locks in the USACE inventory — active, inactive, and historical. 26 states, 60+ river systems, all USACE districts. Physical characteristics include chamber dimensions, channel depths, gate types, year opened, and geographic coordinates.

Update cadence: The USACE waterway lock inventory is updated periodically as locks open, close, or change status. ClarityStorm refreshes the dataset annually.

License: USACE waterway lock data is a US federal government work and is in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. ClarityStorm's derived fields and structured compilation are provided under a commercial license for paid tiers.

Processing: Lock data fetched from the USDOT/BTS ArcGIS waterway locks feature service, status codes decoded, gate types normalized, USACE regions mapped from district/division codes, and ClarityStorm-computed capacity tiers and chamber volume index added.