Milwaukee Harbor, serving the city of Milwaukee, WI, is one of the major ports on the Great Lakes. The harbor is at the mouth of the Milwaukee River, which flows into Milwaukee Bay, a broad indentation on the west side of Lake Michigan about 80 miles north of Chicago Harbor. The harbor comprises an outer harbor formed by breakwaters paralleling the shore and an inner harbor in Milwaukee River, Menomonee River and Kinnickinnic River. The principal cargoes handled in the port are general cargo, steel products, coal, cement and grain. Freighters and petroleum tankers ply the waters year round between this port and other ports on south Lake Michigan.
Prominent features:
Prominent are lighted television towers 4.5 miles north of the Milwaukee River mouth, the U.S. Bank Center 0.95 mile north-northwest of the river mouth, a stack 0.4 mile southwest of the river mouth, the Allen-Bradley Co. clock and temperature towers 1 mile southwest of the river mouth and an apartment building close southwest of the Coast Guard Station at the south end of the outer harbor.
Milwaukee Breakwater Light (43°01’37″N., 87°52’55″W.), 61 feet above the water, is shown from a black lantern on a white square structure on the end of the breakwater on the north side of the main entrance channel. A mariner-activated sound signal at the light is initiated by keying the microphone five times on VHFFM channel 83A.
Channels:
Milwaukee outer harbor is protected by a series of breakwaters that generally parallel the shore on either side of the mouth of Milwaukee River. The main entrance to the harbor is through a dredged channel that leads from deep water in Lake Michigan between the breakwaters across the outer harbor to the mouth of the river. The ends of the breakwaters at the main entrance are marked by lights. The breakwater gaps at the north and south ends of the outer harbor are marked by lights. A dredged anchorage basin extends south from the entrance channel between the breakwater and the deep-draft piers along the shore. The inner harbor is entered from the outer harbor through the piers at the mouth of the Milwaukee River. The outer ends of the piers are marked by lights. The Milwaukee River flows from the north and is joined by the Menomonee River from the west about 1 mile above the pierheads and by the Kinnickinnic River from the south at the inner end of the piers at the northwest end of Jones Island. Channels have been dredged in the lower parts of the rivers, for about 1.2 miles in the Milwaukee River, 1.7 miles in the Menomonee River and 1.2 miles in the Kinnickinnic River. The channels are narrow and tortuous and are not provided with turning basins. Several of the bridge openings are also narrow and their navigation difficult. Channels have also been dredged in the South Menomonee Canal and Burnham Canal, which branch south from the Menomonee River just above its mouth.
In the outer harbor, mooring to the breakwaters or piers is prohibited. Mariners are cautioned against navigating outside channel limits in the vicinity of structures protected by rock riprap along their sides. In the outer harbor, south of the entrance channel, the city of Milwaukee has dredged the pier slips on the west side of the anchorage basin. South Slip No. 1 has been dredged to 26 feet and South Slip Nos. 2 and 3 have been dredged to 27 feet. Municipal Mooring Basin, also known as Kinnickinnic Basin, is on the southeast side of the Kinnickinnic River about 0.6 mile above the mouth. The basin, used primarily for the winter moorage of vessels, has general depths of 25 to 30 feet with lesser depths along the edges. A diked disposal area extends from shore in the southwest corner of the outer harbor. The southeast corner of the area is marked by a light.
Anchorages:
Deep-draft vessels may find anchorage in the dredged part of the outer basin south of the entrance channel. Medium-draft vessels may anchor in the north part of the outer harbor, taking care to avoid dropping or dragging anchor in the vicinity of the submerged cables that cross the outer harbor just north of the entrance channel. Special anchorages are in the small-craft basins at the north end of the outer harbor and shoreward of the County Park Commission’s breakwater, which parallels the shore south of the outer harbor.
In 1983, a sunken wreck was reported in the special anchorage area behind the County Park Commission’s breakwater in about 42°59’58″N., 87°53’04″W.
Dangers:
During rough weather, the entire breakwater system may be obscured by wave action. At these times, the only safe entrance is through the main entrance channel. A wreck, covered 40 feet, is about 3.8 miles east of the harbor entrance.
Caution:
Fish nets in the north outer harbor are a hazard. A water intake for a sewage disposal plant is on the south side of the Milwaukee River about 800 feet west of the Interstate 794 highway bridge and may, at times, cause hazardous crosscurrents for small vessels. Navigators are advised to use extreme caution when entering slips of the general cargo terminals in the outer harbor. Ships accidentally penetrating the dock wall or ships having a large rake angle of the bow can strike the steel and concrete superstructure of Interstate 794 highway bridge. This could result in heavy ship or bridge damage and possible personal injury or loss of life. Vessels moored in the outer harbor may be subject to severe surging when there are strong north-northeast to east-northeast winds. During periods of adverse weather, the Coast Guard recommends that vessels moored in the outer harbor be adequately manned at all times to maintain mooring lines and/or safely get underway.
Currents:
Currents attain velocities to 4 mph in the main entrance channel and 3 mph in the river channels.
Towage:
Tugs to 1,600 hp are available at Milwaukee. Arrangements for tugs are made through the Great Lakes Towing Co. dispatcher in Cleveland (216–621–4854).
Quarantine, customs, immigration and agricultural quarantine:
Quarantine is enforced in accordance with the regulations of the U.S. Public Health Service. (See Public Health Service, Chapter 1.)
Milwaukee is a customs port of entry.
Coast Guard:
Milwaukee Coast Guard Station and Lake Michigan Sector Office are at the south end of the outer harbor.
Harbor regulations:
A speed limit of 4 mph (3.5 knots) is enforced in the harbor. Local harbor regulations are enforced by the harbormaster. Copies of these regulations may be obtained from the Legislative Reference Bureau, Room 404, City Hall, 200 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Wharves:
Milwaukee has numerous wharves, piers and docks in the outer harbor and in the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers. Only the deep-draft facilities are described. The alongside depths given for the facilities described are reported depths; for information on the latest depths, contact the operators. Special cargo handling equipment is described with the individual facility. Cranes to 220 tons are available in the harbor. All the facilities have highway connections, and some have railway connections. Water and electrical shore-power connections are available at some of the facilities.
Information from Coast Pilot: https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/coast-pilot/files/cp6/CPB6_WEB.pdf. Chart reference: 14924
