Corps Production and Dissemination of

Electronic Chart Data

US Army Corps
of Engineers ®

US Army Corps
Of Engineers ®

Improve safety and efficiency of navigation by

providing highly accurate and current electronic
navigation chart data and positioning systems 1
 Positioning System Service Completed
US Army Corps
of Engineers ® (mostly)

2
US Army Corps Objective
of Engineers ®

1. One Uniform Electronic chart product for both the inland and
coastal waterways, readily available to public
coastal: electronic chart data within channel to supplement
NOAA ENC – to be initiated
inland: River Electronic Navigation Chart (RENC) from Corps
2. Available on the internet directly from the Corps
3. Paper versions can be printed from the Electronic version.
4. Suitable for use by industry standard Electronic Chart Systems (ECS)
5. Continuously updated and disseminated in near real time by the
Corps

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 Current Corps Inland Navigation Chart
US Army Corps Products
of Engineers ®

• 22 chart books; sole

government chart available
• 9,100 miles of waterways,
9 systems (not charted by
NOAA)
• 2 to 32 years old
• Varying scales, features,
accuracies, layout
• Limited electronic CADD
files available
• No depth data on charts
above Baton Rouge

4
 Current Corps Coastal Navigation Chart
US Army Corps Products
of Engineers ®

• 4,800 miles of
waterways, channels,
deep draft harbors
• Relatively uniform
content & accuracy;
but various file
structures & formats
• Some electronic
CADD files available to
NOAA and public
• Frequency of
updates to NOAA
varies
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US Army Corps
Why??
of Engineers ®

 Non-standard inland charts

 Southwest Pass, Entrance to Mississippi River, 1987:
- Russian freighter grounded, closing channel and causing serious
shoaling conditions.
- Corps New Orleans District initiated same day survey and channel
condition report publication for port pilots.
 Amtrak Train Derailment Near Mobile, Alabama Sept 22, 1993:
Corps committed to promote use of electronic charts for safety of
navigation on inland waterways
 NOAA ENCs: Charts to use source data (rather than
interpreted) for large-scale channel features – dependent on
Corps data in an efficient, consistent format
 Demand by navigation industry:
- American Waterway Operators - Inland Waterway User Board
- Port pilots associations
- Major barge and towing companies 6
US Army Corps
Master Plan Components
of Engineers ®

1. Partnerships for Success

2. Identify Standard Format for Electronic Data
3. Identify Features Necessary to Improve Safety and
Efficiency of Navigation
4. Prioritize Ports and Waterways
5. Establish Implementation Options
6. Define Electronic Chart Team
7. Conduct Pilot Projects

Red – current activities

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 Master Plan Components:
US Army Corps Partnerships for Success
of Engineers ®

Partners:
• Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB)
• American Waterways Operators (AWO)
• NOAA and U.S. Coast Guard
• Electronic Chart Vendors
Issues:
• Criteria for prioritizing inland areas
• Standards (format, features, accuracy, etc.)
• Publishing (internet vs. CDs vs. paper, etc.)
• Updating process (replacing files vs. objects, Internet, etc.)
• Agency roles (Aids to navigation, notices to mariners, etc.)
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 Inland Waterways
Defining the River Electronic
US Army Corps
of Engineers ®
Navigation Charts

- Dec 5: Open meeting at the Workboat Show, New Orleans

Corps plan for RENCs presented to industry
Commitment made to convene an Industry
Forum for Development of River ENC
- Jan 29, 30: Industry Forum for Development of River ENC
ACBL, Ingram Barge Lines, ARTCO, Kirby Corp, Mid-South
Towing, Rushing Marine
List of features drafted
Preferences on coverage priority given

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 Inland Waterways
US Army Corps High Priority Features on RENCs
of Engineers ®

Majority of Industry Forum deemed these

necessary for a useful RENC
Red – Features not available on current charts
Ranges Anchorage buoys
Ferry crossings Pipeline
Wrecks, rocks, obstructions Restricted areas
Aids to navigation; actual position Anchorage areas
Dike heights Fleeting area
Top bank Real-time waterline
Cable crossing Bridge piers at channel
Cable crossing; vertical clearance Bridge vertical clearance
Water intakes Bridge piers; all
Bridge pier spacing; at channel Town and land area names 10
 Inland Waterways
US Army Corps Chart Features: Buoys – Actual Position
of Engineers ®

Charted positions from Coast Guard currently

shown
- Updated positions from USCG’s new onboard buoy
placement systems? Data publication under
consideration.
- Information needed in a structured format.

11
 Inland Waterways
US Army Corps Chart Features: Dynamic Waterline
of Engineers ®

Shoreline can vary considerably between

low and high water

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 Inland Waterways
Chart Features: Wrecks, Rocks and
US Army Corps
of Engineers ® Obstructions

** Easy to add; difficult to remove **

lesson learned by NOAA

- Objects can be reported by a

variety of sources and plotted with
best information available.
- When is object safely removed?
- side-scan or multibeam
surveys can be costly
- objects can become buried or
moved by current, avoiding
detection by surveys

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 Inland Waterways
US Army Corps Prioritize Inland Waterways
of Engineers ®

Red > 100M tons

GIWW; high
Green 20M – 100M tons
priority
Blue < 20M tons
Other considerations:
- AIS coverage; New Orleans - 2005
- ice-prone waterways – “virtual buoys”
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- recreational users – different priorities?
 Inland Waterways
US Army Corps Chart Features: Bridge Piers
of Engineers ®

• Only profile views currently shown.

• Re-survey most feasible method of data collection.
• Some piers could be area (rather than point) features. 15
 Inland Waterways

US Army Corps
Pilot Project: Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri
of Engineers ® Rivers

• Sample S-57 RENCs

available beginning in
May, 01
• Available to the
public for download
• Seek to test with
Industry Forum
partners on vessels of
opportunity

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 Inland Waterways

US Army Corps
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
of Engineers ® First Detailed River S-57 Product

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 Inland Waterways

US Army Corps
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
of Engineers ® S-57 Product Completed Jan 01

Data in Intergraph Computer-

Aided Design and Drafting
Format
Data in S-57 Format 18
 Inland Waterways

US Army Corps
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
of Engineers ® 1000 Meter Buffer on Navigation Channel

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 Inland Waterways

US Army Corps
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
of Engineers ® Accurate Feature Translation

- Accurate spatial
and information
translation
- “Safe depth”
area of 20 ft.
included.
- No dynamic
features, i.e.
bottom conditions
or real-time
waterline
- Some odd-fit
features, such as
metric markers 20
 Inland Waterways
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
US Army Corps
of Engineers ® Pipelines and Attribution

Useful
information on
various features
enabled by S-57
structure

21
 Inland Waterways
Pilot Project: Atchafalaya River
US Army Corps
of Engineers ® Technical Challenges

* Aids to Navigation;
- Cross referenced existing Corps charts, USCG Light
list data and NOAA charts
- No updated information on aids available
* Graphics “Cleanup”; polygon topology and graphic elements
* Delineation of Depth Areas;
- Multiple sources of land-water delineation
- Geodetic vertical reference; no sounding datum
* Utilization of Notice to Mariner (NTM) Data
- Published weekly; non-cumulative
- Electronic, non-parseable documents, requiring
tedious manual extraction 22
 Corps Production and Dissemination of
US Army Corps Electronic Chart Data
of Engineers ®

For More Information:

Tony Niles
Engineer Research & Development Center,
Topographic Engineering Center
703-428-6816
tniles@tec.army.mil

M.K. Miles
Headquarters, Corps of Engineers
Engineering & Construction Division
703-428-6978
moody.k.miles@usace.army.mil
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