Geography · Ch 7 — Transport and Communication
The Mississippi Waterways
The Mississippi Waterways
The Mississippi-Ohio waterway is the most important inland water route in the United States. It connects the vast interior of the country with the Gulf of Mexico to the south, giving the industrial and agricultural heartland a direct outlet to the ocean.
The system is navigable for large steamers all the way from the Gulf of Mexico up to Minneapolis, a distance of nearly 3,000 kilometres. This means that ocean-going vessels can travel deep into the North American continent, carrying bulk cargo like grain, coal, iron ore, and petroleum products.
The key fact to remember for exams is the terminal point: large steamers can reach Minneapolis via this route. The waterway is often referred to as the Mississippi-Ohio system because the Ohio River is its major tributary and an equally important navigable channel. …