Slackwater harbor project back on track with levee board letter

After almost four months of delay, the Crawford County Levee Board on Wednesday (Jan. 28), signed a “Letter of No Objection” to a slackwater harbor that is to be built in Van Buren along the Arkansas River.

A letter signed by Rick Wilkins, chair of the Crawford County Levee Board, was provided to Jaysson Funkhouser, a program manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“The Crawford County Levee Board has reviewed the 90% design plans for the River Valley Slackwater Harbor Project,” Wilkins noted. “Based on our review, the Board has no objection to the project as currently proposed, provided that the final design does not include any significant changes that would materially affect the existing levee or its performance and receives USACE Section 408 permit approval.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced in November 2023 a $15.096 million grant to help fund construction of the harbor. The harbor will be off the main channel of the Arkansas River and will be 1,000 feet long and 200 feet wide and have the capacity to moor and offload up to eight barges at a time. The harbor will have roughly 2,000 feet of dock frontage with a 50-foot-wide concrete deck for mobile cranes.

Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution, which has port operations in Van Buren and operates the Port of Fort Smith, has committed to providing supporting funds — more than $3 million — for the project.

The initial slackwater construction estimate of $18.16 million is from the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District (WAPDD), which is a parent agency of the Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority (WAIA). The authority was formed in 2011 to seek funding to improve or add intermodal facilities in the Fort Smith region.

Ashley Garris, WAPDD assistant executive director, said the levee board letter was initially sought in October 2025, and was a necessary key process in obtaining clearance to begin construction.

“I’m hopeful we will be able to continue forward with no more hurdles,” Garris said.

The project now awaits an environmental assessment approval from MARAD, which will be followed by approval of the grant agreement freeing up money to begin the work to hire a construction manager and begin ordering steel and other items needed to build the harbor.

Marty Shell, owner of Five Rivers Distribution, told Talk Business & Politics that the levee board delay could delay the entire project for a year. Garris agreed, saying the project initially scheduled to be complete by March 2027 could see a completion date in late 2027 or early 2028.

“Everything was supposed to be complete by March 2027, but we won’t make that now,” she said. “We’re at least six months behind, or maybe a year.”

Her concern is that the delays – some of which are not related to the levee board, she added – will result in higher prices for the steel and concrete needed for the harbor. She said the goal was to begin buying steel in early January, but that may now have to wait until after May.