National Waterway Network Nodes

ISO-19139 Metadata

Metadata Information

Metadata character set: utf8
Last update: 2026-02-03
Metadata maintenance:
Update frequency: asNeeded
Metadata contact:
Role: pointOfContact
Individual's name: Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center
Organization's name: United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE)
Contact's position: CEIWR-NDCWCSC WEBMASTER IWR
Contact information:
Address:
Delivery point: 7701 Telegraph Road
City: Alexandria
Administrative area: VA
Postal code: 22315
Country: US
e-mail address: web.CEIWR-NDCWCSCWEBMASTER@usace.army.mil
Scope of the data described by the metadata: dataset
Scope name: dataset
Name of the metadata standard used: ISO 19139 Geographic Information - Metadata - Implementation Specification
Version of the metadata standard: 2007

Data Identification Information

Resource citation:
Title: National Waterway Network Nodes
Collection title: National Transportation Atlas Database
Date:
Reference date - creation: 2003-07-01
Cited responsible party:
Role: originator
Organization's name: United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE)
Themes or categories of the resource: transportation
Descriptive keywords:
Place keywords:
Keywords: USA, National
Descriptive keywords:
Theme keywords:
Keywords: transportation
Keyword thesaurus:
Title: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Date:
Descriptive keywords:
Theme keywords:
Keywords: NGDA, National Geospatial Data Asset, Transportation Theme, NGDAID154
Keyword thesaurus:
Title: NGDA Portfolio Themes
Date:
Descriptive keywords:
Theme keywords:
Keywords: NTAD, National Transportation Atlas Database, National, Transportation, Atlas, Database, vector, point, Marine, Maritime, Inland, Water, Waterway, Navigable, Nodes, inland waters, oceans, geospatial
Abstract: The National Waterway Network Nodes dataset is periodically updated by the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The National Waterway Network (NWN) is a geographic database of navigable waterways and channels in and around the United States, for analytical studies of navigation performance, for compiling commodity flow statistics, and for mapping purposes. The NWN is comprised of a link database and a node database. Links are line strings, which consist of beginning and end points (nodes) with intermediate vertices (shape points). Links represent either actual shipping lanes (i.e., channels, Intracoastal Waterways, sea lanes, rivers) or serve as representative paths in open water (where no defined shipping paths exist). Nodes may represent physical entities such as river confluence's, ports/facilities, and intermodal terminals, USACE nodes, or may be inserted for analytical purposes (i.e., to facilitate routing). A data dictionary, or other source of attribute information, is accessible at https://doi.org/10.21949/1529054
Purpose: The National Waterway Network (NWN) is a geographic database of navigable waterways and channels in and around the United States, for analytical studies of navigation performance, for compiling commodity flow statistics, and for mapping purposes.
Dataset language:
Dataset character set: utf8
Status: onGoing
Resource maintenance:
Update frequency: asNeeded
Resource constraints:
General constraints:
Limitations of use: Nodes may represent physical entities such as river confluences, ports/facilities, and intermodal terminals, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE nodes), or may be inserted for analytical purposes.Approximately 224 USACE ports are geo-coded in the node database.
Resource constraints:
General constraints:
Limitations of use: Nodes may represent physical entities such as river confluences, ports/facilities, and intermodal terminals, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE nodes), or may be inserted for analytical purposes.Approximately 224 USACE ports are geo-coded in the node database.
Aggregated resource information:
Aggregate dataset name:
Title: National Transportation Atlas Database
Date:
Reference date - publication: 2025-09-30
Cited responsible party:
Role: originator
Organization's name: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Association type: largerWorkCitation
Processing environment: Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.8.1.14362
Spatial resolution:
Equivalent scale:
Scale denominator: 100000
Resource extent:
Geographic element:
Bounding rectangle:
Extent contains the resource: true
West longitude: -179.312134803331
East longitude: 179.135177854289
North latitude: 72.1997322374615
South latitude: -53.0000201812036
Temporal element:
Temporal extent:
Date/Time: 2025-09-30
Object GML ID: N65630
Credits: The National Waterway Network was created on behalf of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Bureau of Census, and the U.S. Coast Guard by Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Additional agencies with input into network development include Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Maritime Administration, Military Traffic Management Command, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Railroad Administration.
Resource point of contact:
Role: pointOfContact
Individual's name: Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center
Organization's name: United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE)
Contact's position: CEIWR-NDCWCSC WEBMASTER IWR
Contact information:
Address:
Delivery point: 7701 Telegraph Road
City: Alexandria
Administrative area: VA
Postal code: 22315
Country: US
e-mail address: web.CEIWR-NDCWCSCWEBMASTER@usace.army.mil

Spatial Representation

Vector Data

Geometric objects:
Object count: 6255

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier:
Value: 3857

Data Quality

Scope of quality information:
Level of the data:dataset
Data quality report:
Completeness omission:
Measure produced by the test: Data set is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details.
Data quality result:

Distribution Information

Distributor:
Distributor contact:
Role: distributor
Organization's name: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Contact's position: NTAD Program Manager
Contact information:
Phone:
Voice: none
Address:
Delivery point: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
City: Washington
Administrative area: DC
Postal code: 20590
Country: US
e-mail address: ntad@dot.gov
Distributor format:
Format name: Open Data Catalog
Format version: 1.0
Format specification: Hosted Downloads
File decompression technique: ZIP
Distribution order process:
Terms and fees: None. No fees are applicable for obtaining the dataset.
Distributor transfer options:
Online distribution information:
Online location: https://doi.org/10.21949/1522173
Distributor:
Distributor contact:
Role: distributor
Organization's name: Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Contact's position: NTAD Program Manager
Contact information:
Phone:
Voice: none
Address:
Delivery point: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
City: Washington
Administrative area: DC
Postal code: 20590
Country: US
e-mail address: ntad@dot.gov
Distributor format:
Format name: ArcGIS REST Services Directory Feature Server (WFS)
Format version: 11.5
Format specification: https://ienccloud.us/arcgis/sdk/rest/index.html#/Feature_Service/02ss0000007v000000/
Distribution order process:
Terms and fees: None. No fees are applicable for obtaining the dataset.
Distributor transfer options:
Online distribution information:
Online location: https://doi.org/10.21949/1522175