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COMMUNITY
Slackwater Harbor Project

Receives Federal Funding Commitment

Photo and graphic courtesy Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority.

A major infrastructure project River Valley officials and enterprises. It will provide loading and unloading processes.
officials have pursued for decades will soon about 80% of the funding needed to build The grant will also fund design services
come to fruition. The River Valley Slackwater a slackwater harbor off the main channel and project management. The new harbor
Harbor project has been awarded a $15.096 of the Arkansas River. The harbor will span will enhance reliability of the port because
million grant from the U.S. Department of approximately 1,000 feet in length and 200 it will be less susceptible to operational
Transportation Maritime Administration feet in width. The structure will have the disruptions and damage resulting from
(MARAD) to construct a harbor on the capacity to moor and offload up to eight fluctuations in the flow rate of the river.
Crawford County side of the Arkansas River. barges at a time, with roughly 2,000 feet of According to MARAD, the harbor
The grant was announced by MARAD in dock frontage and a 50-foot-wide concrete will significantly increase barge handling
November 2023 to the delight of regional deck to support mobile cranes for the capacity of the port and will improve
resilience because the concrete deck will be
constructed above the 100-year flood level
to ensure year-round operation even in the
face of flooding events.
The November announcement listed
more than $653 million in funding for
41 port improvement projects across
the nation under the Port Infrastructure
Development Program. The funding will
help grow capacity and increase efficiency
at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and
inland river ports. The slackwater harbor in
Van Buren was the only Arkansas project
among the 41.
Continued on page 10
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