Guide Clearances
INFORMATION: Guide Clearances are defined as the navigational clearances established by the Coast Guard for a particular navigable water of the United States which will ordinarily receive favorable consideration under the bridge permitting process (33 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter J - Bridges) as providing for the reasonable needs of navigation. They are not intended to be regulatory in nature or to form a legal basis for approving or denying a bridge permit application. Under the circumstances of a particular case, greater or lesser clearances for a proposed bridge may be required or approved as meeting the reasonable needs of navigation for that particular location. For example, the particular character of the waterway and topography at the proposed location may justify a departure from the clearances specified for the waterway in the list of Guide Clearances.
NOTE: Guide Clearances have not been established for all navigable waters of the United States. Where they do not exist, the horizontal and vertical clearances of proposed bridge projects necessary to meet the reasonable needs of the navigation are determined on a case by case basis.
Clearance Guide