The Port of Milwaukee began as a Great Lakes port in 1835, originally of interest to fur traders as it afforded penetration to the interior by canoe. Today, the Port has been intensively developed with dock facilities, and expanded by dredging and channel improvements, and have become the focal point of a substantial commercial and industrial harbor development, handling millions of tons of commerce annually. (Source: http://city.milwaukee.gov/History1852.htm)
The Port of Chicago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Chicago and http://www.iipd.com consists of several major port facilities within the city of Chicago, Illinois operated by the Illinois International Port District (formerly known as the Chicago Regional Port District). Port facilities include:
- Iroquois Landing Lakefront Terminal at the mouth of the Calumet River: includes 100 acres of warehouses and facilities on Lake Michigan with over 780,000 square meters (8,390,000 square feet) of storage.
- Lake Calumet terminal: located at the union of the Grand Calumet River and Little Calumet River 6 miles (9.7 km) inland from Lake Michigan. Includes three transit sheds totaling over 29,000 square meters (315,000 square feet) adjacent to over 900 linear meters (3000 linear feet) of ship and barge berthing.
- Grain (14 million bushels) and bulk liquid (800,000 barrels) storage facilities along Lake Calumet.
- The Illinois International Port district also operates Foreign Trade Zone #22, which extends 60 miles (97 km) from Chicago’s city limits. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Chicago)
The Port of St. Louis (http://www.stlrcga.org/x4742.xml) , as defined by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, extends 70 miles along both banks of the Mississippi River from the southern boundary of Jefferson County, Missouri at Mississippi River Mile 138.8 (above the Ohio River) to the northern boundary of Madison County, Illinois at River Mile 208.8.
- At the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, northern-most lock- and ice-free port on the Inland Waterway, operates year round
- About 130 wharves, piers, docks, fleeting and other facilities on both sides of the Mississippi
- Second largest inland port by trip-ton miles, third by tonnage; moves 33 million tons of mostly bulk commodities annually
- At the intersection of two U.S. Department of Transportation Marine Highways, M70 and M55
- Seven Interstate Highways (I-44, I-55, I-64, I-70, I-170, I-255, I-270) in the area; within a day’s drive of one-third of the US population
- The new Mississippi River bridge will be completed in 2014 between St. Louis, MO, and East St. Louis, IL and will carry I-70 traffic
- Served by 6 Class I railroads
- Six major intermodal facilities
- Two international airports, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in Missouri and, in Mascoutah, IL, Mid-America Airport; Scott Air Force Base is located in Belleville, IL
- Two general purpose Foreign Trade Zones with multiple sites and seven special purpose sub-zones located conveniently close to barge, truck, and rail lines with access to major airports
(Source: http://www.stlrcga.org/x4742.xml)