Posted on June 13, 2017
By David Thompson, Beaumont Enterprise
A recent allocation of more than half a million dollars to the Sabine-Neches Waterway is a “federal green light” to begin work soon on a $1 billion dredging project, according to Navigation District General Manager Randall Reese.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced late last month it intends to use $557,000 in federal discretionary funds to begin pre-construction engineering and design on the project.
The project calls for the dredging of the 72-mile waterway, which services the ports of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, to increase the depth from 40 feet to 48 feet. The deeper channel is to accommodate larger tankers and make it easier for ship captains to make wide turns.
The last time the waterway was deepened was in 1962.
Congress approved the estimated $1.2 billion project in 2014 and former President Barack Obama signed the bill, which called for federal funding to cover $748 million – or around 75 percent – of the project. The other 25 percent will be funded by local partners, according to previous Enterprise reporting.
The approval of the discretionary funds by President Donald Trump in May “should give a guaranteed boost” to the project, according to a recent Associated Press article.
Source: Beaumont Enterprise
