The importance of developing waterway infrastructure in Brazil

Waterway infrastructure occupies a strategic position in the economic development of countries with large territorial extension and abundance of natural resources, as is the case of Brazil. It is a logistics mode characterized by high energy efficiency, low operational cost per ton transported and lower intensity of greenhouse gas emissions when compared to road transport.

In the Brazilian context, this relevance is even more evident. The country has one of the largest hydrographic networks in the world, with emphasis on the Amazon, Tocantins-Araguaia and Paraná-Paraguay basins.

However, despite this natural potential, Brazil still has a transport matrix heavily concentrated in road transport, which results in high logistical costs, operational bottlenecks and significant environmental impacts. The expansion and modernization of waterway infrastructure therefore appears as a structuring solution to reduce the so-called "Brazil cost", increase the competitiveness of exports, especially commodities such as grains and ores, and promote regional integration.

From an economic point of view, well-structured waterways allow for gains in scale and efficiency. A single river convoy can replace dozens of trucks, reducing fuel, maintenance and labor costs. In addition to reducing gas emissions into the atmosphere.

International experience reinforces this argument. Countries that have achieved a high degree of economic development have historically invested consistently in their waterways:

- In the United States, the Mississippi River system constitutes one of the pillars of agricultural and industrial flow, allowing the country to become one of the world's largest grain exporters.
- In Europe, river integration through corridors such as the Rhine-Danube aims to enable highly efficient and sustainable logistics between different countries, strengthening the European common market.
- In China, massive investments in inland waterways, such as the Yangtze River, were fundamental to supporting accelerated industrial growth and reduce internal logistics costs.

These examples highlight a pattern: the development of waterways does not occur in isolation, but is integrated with robust public policies, long-term planning and coordination with other modes, such as ports and railways. This is a systemic vision of logistics, where multimodality is essential.

In Brazil, however, institutional and regulatory challenges still limit this progress. Issues related to environmental licensing, legal uncertainty, lack of regulatory standardization and insufficient public and private investments have delayed strategic projects. Furthermore, there is a need to reconcile waterway development with environmental preservation and respect for traditional communities, especially in the Amazon region.

Overcoming these obstacles requires a balanced and technical approach: investments in dredging, signaling and intermodal terminals; improvement of the regulatory framework; and implementation of cleaner navigation technologies. At the same time, it is essential to promote dialogue with local communities and incorporate socio-environmental criteria from the design of projects.

In other words, waterway infrastructure represents a concrete opportunity to transform Brazilian logistics, making it more efficient, competitive and sustainable. By following the example of countries that used their waterways as a vector for development, Brazil can not only reduce costs and emissions, but must also promote a more balanced and inclusive territorial integration.

In this context, dredging plays a central role in the viability and efficiency of waterways. Brazilian rivers, especially the Amazon rivers, are dynamic systems, subject to continuous silting processes, flow variations and the formation of sediment banks. Without regular dredging interventions, the available draft is reduced, limiting the vessels' carrying capacity, increasing the risk of groundings and, in more critical cases, making entire sections of navigation unfeasible.

Dredging, therefore, should not be seen just as a one-off project, but as a continuous maintenance activity for waterway infrastructure, equivalent to the conservation of highways or the maintenance of railways. Its function is to guarantee adequate depth (operational draft), channel width and safe navigability conditions throughout the year, reducing the seasonality of rivers and increasing logistical reliability.

From an economic point of view, dredging generates direct efficiency gains. By allowing a greater draft, it enables the use of larger or more loaded vessels, increasing transport productivity (tons per trip) and reducing the unit cost of freight. Furthermore, it reduces waiting times and operational deviations, which positively impacts entire logistics chains, especially in the flow of grains from the Central-West through the North corridors.

International experience reinforces this logic. In the United States, the Mississippi River system depends on regular dredging conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain channel depth and ensure smooth transportation. In Europe, rivers such as the Rhine are continually monitored and dredged to ensure minimum navigability standards, essential for the functioning of the continent's integrated logistics system. In China, maintenance of the Yangtze River includes permanent dredging and river engineering programs, essential to sustain the high volume of cargo transported.

A modern approach to waterway dredging involves not only sediment removal, but also integrated river planning, including rockfalls, naturalistic engineering works, continuous bathymetric monitoring and the use of hydraulic and sedimentological modeling technologies. This set of actions allows for more efficient, predictable and sustainable interventions.

In summary, dredging is a structuring element of waterway infrastructure. Without it, the natural potential of Brazilian rivers remains underutilized; with it, a solid foundation is created for a more efficient, competitive and environmentally balanced logistics system. By integrating continuous dredging policies with investments in waterways, Brazil can significantly advance in the construction of a more rational transport matrix, aligned with best international practices and the demands of sustainable development.

* Hito Braga de Moraes is director of the Institute of Technology at UFPA (Federal University of Pará)

The articles published by CNN Infra seek to stimulate debate, reflection and shed light on views on the main challenges, problems and solutions faced by Brazil and other countries in the world. The texts published in this space do not necessarily reflect the opinion of CNN Brasil.

Source: CNN