BATON ROUGE — Moving cargo through Baton Rouge involves a chain of people and infrastructure that most people never see, stretching from water to land.

At the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, crews move everything from grain and steel to bulk products, constantly transferring cargo between ships, barges, trucks and rail.

The port sits where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which directly links ocean-going vessels with inland transportation routes.

"A lot of the marine traffic that runs east and west from Texas into Louisiana, going up the Mississippi River utilizes this waterway."

To connect the river with the Intracoastal Waterway, ships use the Port Allen Lock. Built in 1961, it allows vessels to move between the two waterways through controlled chambers that raise or lower cargo ships between the different water levels of the river and Intracoastal.

"It is a narrow channel that they have to navigate to get lined up to go through this chamber," Adam McFarlain, lock and dam equipment supervisor, said.

The Army Corps of Engineers says about 16 to 20 vessels normally pass through the lock each day, keeping two operators working around the clock.

"Petroleum chemicals that are on these waterways help keep the nation and our economy moving," Robby Swayze said.