From Staff Reports With a $230 million backlog of maintenance issues on the Arkansas River navigation system, members of Congress from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas have teamed up to request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) direct funds to the issue. The delegation also wants the Corps of Engineers to deepen the navigation system's channel from 9 feet to 12 feet to increase barge payloads, as well as address a related issue in southeast Arkansas near the confluence of the Arkansas, White and Mississippi rivers. Several Fort Smith businesses depend on the river for cheaper delivery of raw materials. In addition to serving as a shipping lane for agriculture and manufacturing products, river barges keep about 400 semi-trucks off the roads for a typical tow of eight barges carrying 12,000 tons, according to the Arkansas Waterways Commission.