README for “Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-05-29 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520809 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://geodata.bts.gov/search?q=Navigable%20Waterway%20Network ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset, formerly known as the National Waterway Network, is from the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The National Waterway Network is a comprehensive network database of the Nation's navigable waterways. The dataset covers the lower 48 states as well as the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and water links between. The nominal scale of the dataset varies with the source material. Most of the information is at 1:100,000 with larger scales used in harbor/bay/port areas and smaller scales used in open waters. These data could be used for analytical studies of waterway performance, for compiling commodity flow statistics, and for mapping purposes. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset, formerly known as the National Waterway Network, is from the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The National Waterway Network is a comprehensive network database of the Nation's navigable waterways. The dataset covers the lower 48 states as well as the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and water links between. The nominal scale of the dataset varies with the source material. Most of the information is at 1:100,000 with larger scales used in harbor/bay/port areas and smaller scales used in open waters. These data could be used for analytical studies of waterway performance, for compiling commodity flow statistics, and for mapping purposes. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520809 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) Address: 7701 Telegraph Rd, Alexandria VA 22315 Contact: WSD-REACHBACK@usace.army.mil Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: It is unknown if this dataset will be updated. 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor]. Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present [datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1520809 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: No. 3.This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset A. Filename: Navigable_Waterway_Network_NTAD1995_Present.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year or date respectively. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_Waterway_Network_DMP_20250529.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. C. Filename: bts_NTAD_Waterway_Network_README_20250529.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. 2. File List for the Waterway_Network_NTAD1995_Present.zip collection. A. Filename: NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_Navigable_Waterway_Network_XXXX*.zip or NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Navigable_Waterway_Network_XXXX_XX_XX.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year respectively. 3a. File List for the NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_Waterway_Network_XXXX*.zip collection. A. Filename: Waterway_XXXX.shp, or waterway.shp and waterwaynd.shp, or WaterwayNetwork.shp and WaterwayNodes.shp Short description: A shapefile containing the geospatial data for Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset. This includes associated files with extensions .prj, .dbf, .sbn, .sbx, .shx. B. Filename: WATERWAY.MET, or waterway.htm, waterway.shp.xml, waterwaynd.htm, and waterwaynd.txt, or WaterwayNetwork*.shp.xml and WaterwayNodes*.shp.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, data dictionary, etc. 3b. File List for the NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Waterway_Network_XXXX_XX_XX.zip collection A. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Waterway_Network_XXXX*.gdb.zip Short description: A file geodatabase containing the geospatial data for Navigable Waterway Network 1995-Present dataset. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. B. Filename: Navigable_Waterway_Network_Lines.xml and Navigable_Waterway_Network_Nodes.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. C. Filename: H2O_Route.xlsx and Nodes.xlsx, or Waterway_Network_Lines.xlsx and Waterway_Network_Nodes.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: N/A 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The data and documentation files can be opened with Esri ArcMap and any GIS software package. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Navigable Waterway Network data table It is unknown if this dataset will be updated. Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://geodata.bts.gov/search?q=Navigable%20Waterway%20Network A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in (PDF documentation) provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file Waterway_Network.txt for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_Waterway_Network_20250529_README.txt file was originally created on 2021-04-12 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2021-04-12: Original file created 2025-05-29: Revised document, including data descriptions and file organization.