Calcasieu Ship Channel
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| Calcasieu Ship Channel | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of Calcasieu Ship Channel | |
| History | |
| Construction began | 1922 |
The Calcasieu Ship Channel is a waterway that connects the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with the Gulf of Mexico. Its existence allows the Port of Lake Charles, which is more than 30 miles from the Gulf, to be the 10th largest seaport in the United States. The primary use of the channel is the importation of materials for processing in Lake Charles' large refinery industry, including petroleum, liquefied natural gas, and the export of refined products, such as gasoline and chemicals.[1]
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), from the Sabine River (Louisiana) to the Calcasieu River, was built between 1913 and 1914 with a width of 40 feet (12 m) and a depth of 5 feet (1.5 m). In 1925 the width was dredged to 100 feet (30 m) wide and 9 feet (2.7 m) deep. Sometime in the 1930s the canal was dredged to 30 feet (9.1 m) deep and called the Lake Charles Deep Water Channel. In 1941 the channel was part of the GIWW and maintained at 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and a width of 125 feet (38 m). Through the GIWW the Sabine and Calcasieu estuaries became co-mingled with saltwater intrusion which resulted in the combined Calcasieu-Sabine Basin.[2][3]