Video

Video by Michel Sauret

Time lapse: Barge traffic moves through port of Pittsburgh at sunrise

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

March 1, 2024 | 0:26

B-Roll time lapse of towboats navigating through the port of Pittsburgh, shot from the West End Bridge.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District is known as the “Headwaters District” because the city’s point is where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converge to form the Ohio River, which connects the region to many of the inland waterways for the rest of the nation. The district manages the waterways and watersheds that flow throughout significant parts of the northeastern United States. The district operates 23 locks and dams, saving shippers and consumers approximately $4 billion in transportation costs annually compared to using other means, such as trucks or rails.

Transporting commodities on the waterways is four times less expensive than trucks and 33 percent cheaper than using rail. Towboats can push up to 15 barges on the river at once. A single barge can hold the same amount of material as 70 large semi-trucks or 16 rail cars. A 15-barge tow would be equivalent to more than a thousand semi-trucks on the road, causing 13.9 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District video by Michel Sauret)