Introducing the new Seaway: Hwy H₂0

With little fanfare and no ribbon-cutting, a new bi-national highway has been established from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth, Minnesota. As highways are when new, it is free of congestion, although I am certain that it will slowly reach capacity as the word spreads. And like all new transportation systems, it is designed (intended) to service a market struggling to meet future needs.

In reality, this highway isn't new nor is it technically a highway — rather, it is a marine transportation corridor that is being repackaged to meet the pressures and opportunities of an increasingly connected world. This initiative is being spearheaded by the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in conjunction with the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and U.S. and Canadian Ports.

The concept is to brand the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence inland waterway system as HwyH2O and to work unique marketing and promotional ads around a non-congested, low cost, environmentally and socially friendly waterway that parallels the major east-west highways and railways of both the United States and Canada. The ports on rivers, lakes and connecting channels provide the highway with on/off ramps and interconnections to highways and rails. Together, we provide the infrastructure of HwyH2O.

We have a formidable network of waterways. In 2004 we celebrated the 175th anniversary of the Welland Canal, which opened for business in 1829. And in 2005 we celebrate both the 150th anniversary of the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. What this says is that while marine transportation is old — mature may be a better way to describe it — we continue to look at new ways to illustrate and explain its function and value.

What is important to understand is that HwyH2O is also a system that complements the existing land-based transportation routes (congested, polluted and energy-inefficient though they may be).

In the next few years, new markets will present themselves that are separate from the current business of bulk commodity transportation on the system. These future opportunities will introduce new ideas in logistics, modality, ship design and operation. They will be formed through new partnerships and relationships with customers and competing transportation interests.

New coastal trading vessels are already being built with bow designs capable of handling extraordinary ice conditions with limited horsepower and no loss of cargo carrying capacity or displacement. The new designs dramatically change the dynamics when navigating in ice. Rather than force the ice down and away from the ship, these new bows lift the ice, placing it on top of the ice flow, thereby greatly reducing the impact on channels and shoreline.

As we repackage the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway as HwyH2O, we introduce new technologies and communicate the advantages our highway has over others.

So the next time someone asks you how to get to Duluth, simply say you get on HwyH2O westbound and exit at the end.