Coastal Maintained Channels in US waters

This layer shows coastal channels and waterways that are maintained and surveyed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). These channels are necessary transportation systems that serve economic and national security interests. The possibility of silting is always present. Local authorities should be consulted for the controlling depth. NOS Charts frequently show controlling depths in a table, which is kept current by the US Coast Guard Local Notice to Mariners.

To support coastal and ocean planning and other activities pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act, Energy Policy Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Rivers and Harbors Act and the Submerged Lands Act

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The condition of navigation channels is reported to NOAA by USACE on a regular basis. As the USACE performs hydrographic surveys of the maintained channels they provide NOAA with the results of these surveys. The survey results are provided on survey sheets and/or channel condition reports. Hydrographic survey sheets depict the hydrography within the maintained channel as well as the channel limits. The surveys are either a condition or after dredge survey. A condition survey, among other things, depicts hydrography prior to dredging operations and the after dredge survey shows the results of dredging operations. Channel condition reports are a tabulated format of the results of a hydrographic survey. The channel condition reports contain the names of all the reaches in a particular channel. Along with each reach name the project dimensions are listed and they include the reach's width, project depth and length. Additionally for each reach controlling depths are listed for the separate quarters of that reach and the date of the survey from which those controlling depths were taken. The controlling depths are determined by USACE and are the shoalest depths for that quarter of the reach. A channel condition report will also contain more detailed information concerning the location of extreme shoaling or obstructions that may be located in the channel. (Coastal Channel Data: Cooperative Production of a NOAA/USACE Data Framework, Libeau and Morrison 2005)

Not for navigation.

None

These data are intended for coastal and ocean use planning. Not for navigation.

This dataset is derived from NOAA ENC's which conforms to the International Hydrographic

Organization Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data, Special Publication S-57, ENC Product Specification Edition 2.0.

Maximum scale of intended use is 1:80,000.

Coastal maintained channels in U.S. waters represents current coverage of all ENC Charts. The NOAA ENC Chart Suite is not scheduled to be completed until 2015. As new NOAA ENCs and NOAA ENC editions are created they will be added to the NOAA ENC Direct to GIS data on the first of every month.

Coastal maintained channels in U.S. waters data is derived from NOAA ENC's which conforms to the International Hydrographic Organization Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data, Special Publication S-57, ENC Product Specification Edition 2.0. NOAA ENC Direct to GIS data has added generalized nautical chart symbology to aid in the visualization of this data.