[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 33, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 33CFR207.160]

[Page 31-34]
 
                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
 
         CHAPTER II--CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
 
PART 207--NAVIGATION REGULATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 207.160  All waterways tributary to the Atlantic Ocean south of Chesapeake Bay and all waterways tributary to the Gulf of Mexico east and south of St. Marks, Fla.; use, administration, and navigation.

    (a) Description. This section applies to the following:
    (1) Waterways. All navigable waters of the United States, natural or 
artificial, including bays, lakes, sounds, rivers, creeks, intracoastal 
waterways, as well as canals and channels of all types, which are 
tributary to or connected by other waterways with the Atlantic Ocean 
south of Chesapeake Bay or with the Gulf of Mexico east and south of St. 
Marks, Florida.
    (2) Locks. All Government owned or operated locks and hurricane gate 
chambers and appurtenant structures in any of the waterways described in 
paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
    (3) U.S. property. All river and harbor lands owned by the United 
States in or along the waterways described in paragraph (a)(1) of this 
section, including lock sites and all structures thereon, other sites 
for Government structures and for the accommodation and use of employees 
of the United States, and rights of way and spoil disposal areas to the 
extent of Federal interest therein.
    (4) Vessels and rafts. The term ``vessel'' as used in this section 
includes all floating things moved over these waterways other than 
rafts.
    (b) Authority of District Engineers. The use, administration, and 
navigation of these waterways, Federal locks and hurricane gate chambers 
shall be under the direction of the officers of the Corps of Engineers, 
U.S. Army, detailed in charge of the respective sections, and their 
authorized assistants. The cities in which the U.S. District Engineers 
are located are as follows:

    U.S. District Engineer, Norfolk, Virginia.
    U.S. District Engineer, Wilmington, North Carolina.
    U.S. District Engineer, Charleston, South Carolina.
    U.S. District Engineer, Savannah, Georgia.
    U.S. District Engineer, Jacksonville, Florida.

    (c) [Reserved]
    (d) Bridges. (For regulations governing the operation of bridges, 
see Secs. 117.1, 117.240 and 117.245 of this title.)
    (e) Locks--(1) Authority of lockmasters. (i) Locks staffed with 
Government personnel. The provisions of this subparagraph apply to all 
waterways in this Section except for the segment of the Atlantic 
Intracoastal Waterway identified in (e)(1)(ii). The lockmaster shall be 
charged with the immediate control and management of the lock, and of 
the area set aside as the lock area, including the lock approach 
channels. He/she shall see that all laws, rules and regulations for the 
use of the lock and lock area are duly complied with, to which end he/
she is authorized to give all necessary orders and directions in 
accordance therewith, both to employees of the Government and to any and 
every person within the limits of the lock and lock area, whether 
navigating the lock or not. No one shall cause any movement of any 
vessel, boat, or other floating thing in the lock or approaches except 
by or under the direction of the lockmaster or his/her assistants.
    (ii) Locks staffed with contract personnel. The provisions of this 
subparagraph apply to the segment of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway 
comprising the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal and the Dismal Swamp 
Canal including Great Bridge Lock, Chesapeake, Virginia; Deep Creek 
Lock, Chesapeake, Virginia; and South Mills Lock, North Carolina. 
Contract personnel shall give all necessary orders and directions for 
operation of the locks. No one shall cause any movement of any vessel, 
boat or other floating thing in the locks or approaches except by or 
under the direction of the contract lock operator. All duties and 
responsibilities of the lockmaster set forth in this section shall be 
performed by the contract lock operator except that the responsibility 
for enforcing all laws, rules and regulations shall be vested in a 
government employee designated by the Norfolk District Engineer. The 
District Engineer will notify waterway users and the general public 
through appropriate notices and media

[[Page 32]]

concerning the location and identity of the designated government 
employee.
    (2) Signals. Vessels desiring lockage in either direction shall give 
notice to the lockmaster at not more than three-quarters of a mile nor 
less than one-quarter of a mile from the lock, by two long and two short 
blasts of a whistle. When the lock is available, a green light, 
semaphore or flag will be displayed; when not available, a red light, 
semaphore or flag will be displayed. No vessels or rafts shall approach 
within 300 feet of any lock entrance unless signalled to do so by the 
lockmaster.
    (3) Precedence at locks. (i) The vessel arriving first at a lock 
shall be first to lock through; but precedence shall be given to vessels 
belonging to the United States and to commercial vessels in the order 
named. Arrival posts or markers may be established ashore above or below 
the locks. Vessels arriving at or opposite such posts or markers will be 
considered as having arrived at the locks within the meaning of this 
paragraph.
    (ii) The lockage of pleasure boats, house boats or like craft shall 
be expedited by locking them through with commercial craft (other than 
barges carrying petroleum products or highly hazardous materials) in 
order to utilize the capacity of the lock to its maximum. If, after the 
arrival of such craft, no separate or combined lockage can be 
accomplished within a reasonable time not to exceed the time required 
for three other lockages, then separate lockage shall be made.
    (4) Entrance to and exit from locks. No vessel or raft shall enter 
or leave the locks before being signalled to do so. While waiting their 
turns, vessels or rafts must not obstruct traffic and must remain at a 
safe distance from the lock. They shall take position in rear of any 
vessels or rafts that may precede them, and there arrange the tow for 
locking in sections if necessary. Masters and pilots of vessels or in 
charge of rafts shall cause no undue delay in entering or leaving the 
lock, and will be held to a strict accountability that the approaches 
are not at any time unnecessarily obstructed by parts of a tow awaiting 
lockage or already passed through. They shall provide sufficient men to 
move through the lock promptly without damage to the structures. Vessels 
or tows that fail to enter the locks with reasonable promptness after 
being signalled to do so will lose their turn.
    (5) Lockage of vessels. (i) Vessels must enter and leave the locks 
carefully at slow speed, must be provided with suitable lines and 
fenders, must always use fenders to protect the walls and gates, and 
when locking at night must be provided with suitable lights and use them 
as directed.
    (ii) Vessels which do not draw at least six inches less than the 
depth on miter sills or breast walls, or which have projections or sharp 
corners liable to damage gates or walls, shall not enter a lock or 
approaches.
    (iii) No vessel having chains or lines either hanging over the sides 
or ends, or dragging on the bottom, for steering or other purposes, will 
be permitted to pass a lock or dam.
    (iv) Power vessels must accompany tows through the locks when so 
directed by the lockmaster.
    (v) No vessel whose cargo projects beyond its sides will be admitted 
to lockage.
    (vi) Vessels in a sinking condition shall not enter a lock or 
approaches.
    (vii) The passing of coal from flats or barges to steamers while in 
locks is prohibited.
    (viii) Where special regulations for safeguarding human life and 
property are desirable for special situations, the same may be indicated 
by printed signs, and in such cases such signs will have the same force 
as other regulations in this section.
    (ix) The lockmaster may refuse to lock vessels which, in his 
judgment, fail to comply with this paragraph.
    (6) Lockage of rafts. Rafts shall be locked through in sections as 
directed by the lockmaster. No raft will be locked that is not 
constructed in accordance with the requirements stated in paragraph (g) 
of this section. The party in charge of a raft desiring lockage shall 
register with the lockmaster immediately upon arriving at the lock and 
receive instructions for locking.
    (7) Number of lockages. Tows or rafts locking in sections will 
generally be allowed only two consecutive lockages if one or more single 
vessels are waiting

[[Page 33]]

for lockage, but may be allowed more in special cases. If tows or rafts 
are waiting above and below a lock for lockage, sections will be locked 
both ways alternately whenever practicable. When there are two or more 
tows or rafts awaiting lockage in the same direction, no part of one 
shall pass the lock until the whole of the one preceding it shall have 
passed.
    (8) Mooring. (i) Vessels and rafts when in the lock shall be moored 
where directed by the lockmaster by bow, stern and spring lines to the 
snubbing posts or hooks provided for that purpose, and lines shall not 
be let go until signal is given for vessel or raft to leave. Tying boats 
to the lock ladders is prohibited.
    (ii) The mooring of vessels or rafts near the approaches to locks 
except while waiting for lockage, or at other places in the pools where 
such mooring interferes with general navigation of the waterway is 
prohibited.
    (9) Maneuvering locks. The lock gates, valves, and accessories will 
be moved only under the direction of the lockmaster; but if required, 
all vessels and rafts using the locks must furnish ample help on the 
lock walls for handling lines and maneuvering the various parts of the 
lock under the direction of the lockmaster.
    (f) [Reserved]
    (g) Rafts, logging. (1) Rafts will be permitted to navigate a 
waterway only if properly and securely assembled. The passage of ``bag'' 
or ``sack'' rafts, ``dog'' rafts, or of loose logs over any portion of a 
waterway, is prohibited. Each section of a raft will be secured within 
itself in such a manner as to prevent the sinking of any log, and so 
fastened or tied with chains or wire rope that it cannot be separated or 
bag out so as to materially change its shape. All dogs, chains and other 
means used in assembling rafts shall be in good condition and of ample 
size and strength to accomplish their purposes.
    (2) No section of a raft will be permitted to be towed over any 
portion of a waterway unless the logs float sufficiently high in the 
water to make it evident that the section will not sink en route.
    (3) Frequent inspections will be made by the person in charge of 
each raft to insure that all fastenings remain secure, and when any one 
is found to have loosened, it shall be repaired at once. Should any log 
or section be lost from a raft, the fact must be promptly reported to 
the District Engineer, giving as definitely as possible the exact point 
at which the loss occurred. In all cases the owner of the lost log or 
section will take steps immediately to remove the same from the 
waterway.
    (4) The length and width of rafts shall not exceed such maximum 
dimensions as may be prescribed by the District Engineer.
    (5) All rafts shall carry sufficient men to enable them to be 
managed properly, and to keep them from being an obstruction to other 
craft using the waterway. To permit safe passage in a narrow channel 
rafts will, if necessary, stop and tie up alongside the bank. Care must 
be exercised both in towing and mooring rafts to avoid the possibility 
of damage to aids to navigation maintained by the United States or under 
its authorization.
    (6) When rafts are left for any reason with no one in attendance, 
they must be securely tied at each end and at as many intermediate 
points as may be necessary to keep the timbers from bagging into the 
stream, and must be moored so as to conform to the shape of the bank. 
Rafts moored to the bank shall have lights at 500-foot intervals along 
their entire length. Rafts must not be moored at prominent projections 
of the bank, or at critical sections.
    (7) Logs may be stored in certain tributary streams provided a clear 
channel at least one-half the width of the channel be left clear for 
navigation along the tributary. Such storage spaces must be protected by 
booms and, if necessary to maintain an open channel, piling should also 
be used. Authority for placing these booms and piling must be obtained 
by written permit from the District Engineer.
    (8) The building, assembling, or breaking up of a raft in a waterway 
will be permitted only upon special authority obtained from the District 
Engineer, and under such conditions as he may prescribe.
    (h) Dumping of refuse or oil in waterway, obstructions. Attention is 
invited to the provisions of sections 13 and 20

[[Page 34]]

of the River and Harbor Act of March 3, 1899 (30 Stat. 1152, 1154; 33 U. 
S. C. 407, 415), and of sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Oil Pollution Act of 
June 7, 1924 (43 Stat. 604, 605; 33 U.S.C. 432-434), which prohibit the 
depositing of any refuse matter in these waterways or along their banks 
where liable to be washed into the waters; authorize the immediate 
removal or destruction of any sunken vessel, craft, raft, or other 
similar obstruction, which stops or endangers navigation; and prohibit 
the discharge of oil from vessels into the coastal navigable waters of 
the United States.
    (i) Damage. Masters and owners of vessels using the waterways are 
responsible for any damage caused by their operations to canal 
revetments, lock piers and walls, bridges, hurricane gate chambers, 
spillways, or approaches thereto, or other Government structures, and 
for displacing or damaging of buoys, stakes, spars, range lights or 
other aids to navigation. Should any part of a revetment, lock, bridge, 
hurricane gate chamber, spillway or approach thereto, be damaged, they 
shall report the fact, and furnish a clear statement of how the damage 
occurred, to the nearest Government lockmaster or bridge tender, and by 
mail to the District Engineer, U.S. Engineer Office, in local charge of 
the waterway in which the damage occurred. Should any aid to navigation 
be damaged, they shall report that fact immediately to the 
Superintendent of Lighthouses at Norfolk, Virginia, if north of New 
River Inlet, North Carolina; to the Superintendent of Lighthouses at 
Charleston, South Carolina, if between New River Inlet, North Carolina, 
and St. Lucie Inlet, Florida; to the Superintendent of Lighthouses at 
Key West, Florida, if between St. Lucie Inlet and Suwanee River, 
Florida; and to the Superintendent of Lighthouses, New Orleans, 
Louisiana, if between Suwanee River and St. Marks, Florida.
    (j) Trespass on property of the United States. Trespass on waterway 
property or injury to the banks, locks, bridges, piers, fences, trees, 
houses, shops or any other property of the United States pertaining to 
the waterway is strictly prohibited. No business, trading or landing of 
freight or baggage will be allowed on or over Government piers, bridges, 
or lock walls.
    (k) Copies of regulations. Copies of the regulations in this section 
will be furnished free of charge upon application to the nearest 
District Engineer.

[Regs., Apr. 30, 1938, as amended at 8 FR 15381, Nov. 9, 1943; 25 FR 
8908, Sept. 16, 1960; 26 FR 353, Jan. 18, 1961; 34 FR 4967, Mar. 7, 
1969; 42 FR 57961, Nov. 7, 1977; 48 FR 6335, Feb. 11, 1983; 56 FR 13765, 
Apr. 4, 1991]