River

When your business requires you to broaden your global reach, look no further than the Arkansas River. The Arkansas River, known as the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, is one of the most energy efficient and cost competitive modes of transportation. Open year-round, with no delays due to frozen water, your raw material or products can reach any destination… globally.

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Year-round navigable channels to the Mississippi River and beyond

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Handles over 12 million tons a year

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Serves a 12 state region

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Locks are operated 24 hours a day

Arkansas River - McClellan-Kerr System

  • Opened in 1971, the system is capable of handling 12 million tons annually
  • The 18 locks and dams provide for a flood-controlled, 9-foot, year-round, ice-free navigable channel
  • Extends 445 miles from the Mississippi River to Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Each of the locks have a single chamber measuring 110 feet wide and 600 feet long
Boat on the Arkansas River

Fact:

The volume of cargo handled on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System annually would require an additional 400,000 semi-tractor trucks forming a line over 4,500 miles long – twice the distance from New York City to Los Angeles
Slackwater Harbor is 4,500 feet long, 320 feet wide, 15 feet deep and was built in 2002