(0) STRETCHING (STRETCH) from Norfolk, Virginia, to Miami, Florida, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is an 1LAND channel. It is used mainly by 2RECREATION boaters. The waterway is not 3ESSENTIAL to commercial shipping which relies strongly on it. The channel is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The mission of USACE is to provide vital public engineering services in peace and war to 4STRONG our nation's security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters. At Wilmington District headquarters in Wilmington, North Carolina, USACE surveys and maps the conditions of waterways in the 5COAST regions of North Carolina and south-central Virginia. USACE boats, equipped with 6SOPHISTICATE sonar, cross over sections of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway every day. The district's survey boat fleet consists of the Gillette, the Beaufort, and the Sanderson. They determine how deep the water is, and 7HYDROGRAPHY surveys, which are water surveys, are done every day. A GPS signal determines the location of where the survey is conducted, and the sonar equipment records the 8DEEP of the waterway at that point.