TRB Conference Proceedings 45: U.S. Marine Salvage Assets and Capabilities in a Maritime Disaster is the proceedings of a September 2008 workshop that focused on a scenario involving an incident that shuts down the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  The proceedings examine the threat and explore key issues relating to an efficient, effective, and coordinated U.S. salvage industry response to a worst-case marine casualty scenario.

March 2009: Maritime Disaster Workshop Proceedings The prepublication version of the Proceedings from the September 2008 Maritime Disaster Workshop is now available on-line . The final printed report will be available in early May.

The Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies’ Division on Earth and Life Studies has released a report that identifies ways to reduce waste, improve waste disposal at ports, and strengthen the regulatory framework toward a goal of zero waste discharge into the marine environment.  DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

The July-August 2008 issue of TR News includes the following articles: Building the 21st Century Workforce: Creating a National Strategy The Louisiana Model for Transportation Workforce Development: Integrating Technical Assistance, Structured Training, Continuing Education, and Technology Transfer The Kentucky Engineering Exposure Network: State Program KEEN to Inspire and Guide Students Building an Education Infrastructure for Railway Transportation Engineering: Renewed Partnerships on New Tracks Deve...

TRB Special Report 293, Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands: Designing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment provides guidance for a comprehensive risk assessment of vessel accidents and spills in the Aleutian Islands.  The report examines data related to the risk of oil, chemical, and other hazardous cargo spills from vessel traffic through the Aleutian Islands and identifies key information needed to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment.

TRB and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released TRB Special Report 291: Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species, which reviews existing research and efforts to date to reduce aquatic invasive species introductions into the Great Lakes and identifies ways that these efforts could be strengthened toward an effective solution.  Since its opening in 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway has provided a route into the Great Lakes not only for trade, but also unfortunately fo...

July 2008 Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species The pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 291: Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species has been released. The report reviews existing research and efforts to date to reduce aquatic invasive species introductions into the Great Lakes and identifies ways that these efforts could be strengthened toward an effective solution. Since its opening in 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway has provided a route into the Great Lak...

July 2008: Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands: Designing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment The prepublication version of  TRB Special Report 293, Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands: Designing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment has been released. The report provides guidance for a comprehensive risk assessment of vessel accidents and spills in the Aleutian Islands. The report examines data related to the risk of oil, chemical, and other hazardous cargo sp...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2033 includes eight papers that explore quadrimaran ferries, analysis of container port competition, interaction between transport, infrastructure, and institutional management of a port system, optimization of internal transport cycle in a marine container terminal, drayage operations at the Port of Houston, Texas, a waterways curriculum for introducing the marine industry to youth, inland water transport in I...

July 2007: The US Coast Guard released the summer 2007 edition of the Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council . The focus of this edition is waterways management and it includes an article on the Marine Board, found on pp. 23-26.

The Polar Research Board, part of the National Academies’ Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), and the Marine Board, part of the Academies’ Transportation Research Board, have released a report that explores the current and future needs for icebreaking ship capabilities of the United States.  The Committee that produced the report concluded that the nation continues to require a polar icebreaking fleet that includes a minimum of three multi-mission ships and one single-mission ship.  The...

March 2007: Polar Icebreaker Study Available The final report Polar Icebreakers in a Changing World: An Assessment of U.S. Needs, a USCG-funded study prepared by a committee of the Polar Research Board and the Marine Board, is now available from National Academies Press. Marine Board members Ron Kiss, Bob North and past member Steve Scalzo, all served on the study committee.

The September-October 2006 issue of TR News includes the following articles: Toward More Golden Anniversaries: Securing Transportation’s Place in the National Policy Agenda Freight Transportation Industry Roundtable: Fostering a Dialogue with Federal Policy Makers The Containership Revolution: Malcom McLean’s 1956 Innovation Goes Global Container Shipping and the Economy: Stimulating Trade and Transformations Worldwide The 40-Foot Container: Industry Standard Faces Challenges and Change Can ...

September 2006: Polar Icebreakers in a Changing World: An Assessment of U.S. Needs The Polar Research Board, part of the National Academies’ Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), and the Marine Board, part of the Academies’ Transportation Research Board, have released a report that explores the current and future needs for icebreaking ship capabilities of the United States. The Committee that produced the report concluded that the nation continues to require a polar icebreaking fleet that includes ...

The Marine Board's 2005 Annual Report describes the organization, membership, and program scope of TRB’s Marine Board, which provides a forum for the exchange of information relating to maritime transportation and related economic, environmental, and technology issues in a broader context. The report also highlights recent activities and publications of the Marine Board. To receive a printed copy of the report contact Joedy Cambridge .

July 2006: Marine Board 2005 Report The Marine Board's 2005 Annual Report describes the organization, membership, and program scope of TRB’s Marine Board, which provides a forum for the exchange of information relating to maritime transportation and related economic, environmental, and technology issues in a broader context. The report also highlights recent activities and publications of the Marine Board. To receive a printed copy of the report contact Brie Schwartz .

June 2006: Conference Proceedings The Eighth Annual Harbor Safety Committee Conference Proceedings are now online.

To improve its study on the feasibility of improving or expanding barge transportation on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should revamp the models it is using to estimate future waterway traffic demands, says a new report from the National Academies' Water Science and Technology Board and Transportation Research Board. This is the first of three reports expected to be produced by the National Academies on this issue.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis Report 320: Integrating Freight Facilities and Operations with Community Goals identifies practices that have been or are being used by private-sector freight companies and public transportation agencies in citing their facilities, modifying their operations, and managing their community relations. “Good neighbor initiatives” and balancing practices employed by metropolitan planning and economic development organizations, local governm...

According to Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects, a report by the National Academies' Ocean Studies Board and TRB's Marine Board, nearly 85 percent of the 29 million gallons of petroleum that enter North American ocean waters each year as a result of human activities comes from land-based runoff, polluted rivers, airplanes, and small boats and jet skis, while less than 8 percent comes from tanker or pipeline spills.

"Just About Everything You Need To Know About Transportation You Can Learn on the Erie Canal," "Measuring the Service Levels of Inland Waterways: Alternative Approaches for Budget Decision Making," "River Efficiency, Fuel Taxes, and Modal Shifts: Tennessee Valley Authority Model Assists Policy Makers," and "Safety Statistics That Make a Difference: U.S. Coast Guard, American Waterways Operators Partner for Results" are among the articles in the July-August 2002 is...