—Robert Mann, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates and maintains 25,000 miles of navigable channels and 196 commercial lock and dam sites and is responsible for harbors and waterways in 41 states. The USACE's Army Geospatial Center publishes Inland Electronic Navigational Chart (IENC) data for over 8500 nautical miles of navigable waterways. Delivering accurate data in a timely fashion is crucial for safe navigation on those waterways. The USACE is developing a Chart Production System that uses the Esri PLTS for ArcGIS—Nautical Solution. Paper chart and electronic chart production will access one standardized set of feature objects within the Nautical Information System geodatabase for future production instead of the more common practice of maintaining separate geodatabases for each chart product. Pushing this data to the public through multiple web map services will allow for both a streamlined production workflow and increased product availability.