businessfacilities.com
The evolution and innovation continue. In 2021, a forward-thinking partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the State of Louisiana and the nonprofit Water Institute of the Gulf developed the Lower Mississippi River SmartPort & Resilience Center, or SmartPort, to bring river navigation into the digital age.
Offering real-time data that can be shared by port administrators, shippers, tenants, cargo and ground transportation providers, SmartPort has been compared to the Waze motorist app, giving information that boosts efficiency by allowing users to assess critical operational factors such as tracking currents, river congestion, visibility and weather conditions.
SmartPort integrates crowd-sourced data from vessels traversing the region’s waterways with official survey data and artificial intelligence to develop accurate, immediate and actionable assessments of vital port and river conditions, including shoals, river depths, vessel congestion, visibility and other conditions. Its unique data-sharing solution enables the full spectrum of stakeholders—from captains to cargo companies and port operators—to pinpoint potential delays in operations and, in the process, significantly improve their logistical capabilities.
The contributions of SmartPort go beyond the day-to-day navigation of the river to encompass management of the river itself. Measuring sediment buildup is one of its most useful tools, providing real-time monitoring for dredging analysis.