Rivers
With 1,118 miles of waterways in Illinois, barges play an important role in transporting shipments of the state’s commodities. In fact, Illinois products that travel on the main inland waterways have an annual value of more than $23 billion, and grain exports make up almost one-third of the state’s commodities transported by barge. One barge can carry as much as 60 semi-trucks or 15 rail cars, and freight transit by water also cuts down on highway traffic, fuel usage and air pollution, not to mention tires that end up in landfills.
