Missouri River freight assessment

Project Summary

The Missouri River is a significant but underutilized freight transportation asset for Missouri and the United States. Current circumstances and expectations for future transportation needs identify the Missouri River as a transportation solution and economic development engine.

The Missouri Department of Transportation selected Hanson to complete a freight corridor assessment and development plan for the Missouri River. This critical study was part of an effort to redevelop the river as a freight corridor with logical market nodes and reliable service that supports a sustainable market and logistics system.

Four focus areas were identified to support increased river use and corridor development, including redevelopment and expansion of traditional freight markets; identification of port infrastructure needs required to initiate, support and expand freight services on the Missouri River; evaluation of potential new markets and strategies to promote market expansion; and identification of conceptual approaches to river management that enhance freight movement on the river.

The objectives included the following items:

1).  Identify, describe and prioritize feasible, practical and market-driven strategies to redevelop traditional markets on the river.

2).  Assess the potential for new markets on the river that include project cargo, container shipping, or the shipping of non-traditional commodities or goods on the river. Identify promising markets, market nodes and requirements for specialized equipment.

3).  Identify the infrastructure, equipment and conceptual river management approaches needed to facilitate the most likely market development scenarios. Describe the potential policy process and resulting impacts of those potential changes for freight shipping, market development and sustainability.

4).  Provide a detailed Concept of Operations Approach document that describes each of the most promising combinations of market development, new market development, infrastructure and river management, which will result in increased freight shipping on the Missouri River.

Hanson delivered the findings and recommended a Concept of Operations final report in 2011.