The 445-mile navigation channel begins at the confluence of the White and Mississippi Rivers and proceeds one-half mile upstream on the White River to the Montgomery Point Lock and Dam.  From there the channel proceeds nine miles upstream on the White River to the man made Arkansas Post Canal, and then nine miles through the canal to the Arkansas River.  The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System crosses the state of Arkansas into Oklahoma traversing the state until it reaches the confluence of the Arkansas and Verdigris River where the navigation channel follows the Verdigris River terminating fifty-one miles upstream at the Port of Catoosa, near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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* Minimum depth of nine feet
* Width of 300 feet on the White River
* Width of 300 feet on the Arkansas Post Canal
* Width of 250 feet on the Arkansas River
* Width of 150 feet on the Verdigris River
* 18 Locks, each 110 feet wide and 600 feet long

Commercial activity on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation Systems waterway includes up bound barges of bauxite, grain, chemicals, fertilizer, steel, pipe, asphalt, soda ash, petroleum products, clay, sand, gravel and miscellaneous commodities.  Down bound barges ship soybeans, wheat, lumber, steel, coal, gypsum, scrap iron, rock, refined petroleum products and manufactured equipment.  Barge transportation is significantly more efficient than rail or truck per ton of freight moved per mile.  Benefits also include reduced noise, air pollution, and roadway congestion.