A Time-Lapse Tour of Calumet River and Lake (Overview)

Start: (3D Satellite)

Finish: (3D Satellite)

A time-lapse view from the tugboat Candace Elise as it travels from the mouth of the Calumet River to the EMESCO Dock on Lake Calumet.

A time-lapse video from BigLift's Happy Ranger as it travels from Carmeuse Lime to Lake Michigan. Judging by the green-roofed building, it started its journey from here.

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The crane we see in the video...

Screenshot

...appears to be a owned by EMESCO Dock.

3D Satellite

This timelapse shows the entire river because it leaves the relatively new St. Mary's Cement dock.

Charles Edwards posted
Caroline McKee/Commander outbound the Calumet River today [Sep 23, 2024].
Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

Stephen Sostaric posted four photos with the comment: "Waking up, checking Marine Traffic, and running out the door at 5:00 AM, I caught the Algoterra on her third trip to Chicago this season - May 20, 2026."

1
[Because of the Skyway Bridge in the background, the bridge control house and the power lines, this would be the 100th Street Bridge.]

2
[The photos are not in travel order. Because of the bridge control house, this is the Ewing Avenue Bridge. This is an interesting view because it shows the tugboats on both ends of the ship.]

3
[The Skyway across the top and the lift bridges.]

4
[Because of the angled dock on the left, that would be the former American/Chicago Shipbuilding property. I'm glad to see the crane because that implies it is being used for something now.]

A traffic jam on the river. I'm glad to see the use of the river is picking up.

Terry Heyns commented on Sephen's post
Great pics Stephen! I was there departing her last trip out 5/24, disembarked this morning. Awesome ship. She loaded 14.5 metric tons of gasoline this time!⛽️
[The gasoline product means that it travelled the full length of the river because this is the only product tank farm that I could find.]

Michael Siola posted 31 photos and maps with the comment:

Barges are the transport of choice on the shallow inland waterways that make up the Calumet River system and the Cal-Sag Channel. They carry millions of tons of heavy bulk cargo annually between the Great Lakes and Illinois River.

In the USA, a standard river barge size is 195 feet by 35 feet and can hold up to 1500 tons of cargo; 62,500 bushels, or 453,500 gallons of liquid products. The typical 15-barge tow is capable of hauling 22,500 tons; 767,500 bushels; or 6,804,000 gallons. Comparing these capacities to other transport modes: One barge has the capacity of 15 jumbo railcars or 58 truck trailers. Transporting cargo by water is still the most cost effective way to ship large amounts of freight over long distances.

Michael Siola shared

Debbie Goodloe: Yep. We moved 12 barges a month between Baton Rouge, LA and Pittsburgh, PA.

[I'm surprised how many of the boats were tugboats instead of towboats. As expected, the towboats had retractable pilothouses.]

Michael Siola posted 22 photos in Nov 2022 of some big freighters and other scenes on the river.