Berwick Bay is the section of the Lower

Atchafalaya River The Atchafalaya River ( french: La Rivière Atchafalaya, es, Río Atchafalaya) is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

from Morgan City north to Sixmile Lake.

U.S. Route 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

crosses Berwick Bay connecting the town of Berwick on the west bank of the Atchafalaya to Morgan City on the east bank. There is also a

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

vertical lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

connecting the two municipalities. This stretch of water lends its name to Vessel Traffic Service Berwick Bay which manages the waters south of 29°45' N., west of 91°10' W., north of 29°37' N., and east of 91°18' W. These waters include the junction of the

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway located along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is a navigable inland waterway running approximately from Carrabelle, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. The waterw ...

, the

Port Allen-Morgan City Alternate Route A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

and several tributary bayous. Narrow bridge openings and a swift river current require one-way traffic flow through the bridges. VTS Berwick Bay is unique among

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Vessel Traffic Services because it maintains direct control of vessel traffic.

References

External links

''Coast Pilot 5 - 34th Edition, 2006''
Chapter 9 Rivers of Louisiana Bodies of water of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana {{Louisiana-river-stub