Posted on March 9, 2021
The last hurdles before dredging begins to create the Acadiana-Gulf of Mexico Access Channel are being cleared, opening the way for the Port of Iberia to be open to much larger vessels in coming years.
Parish government and Port of Iberia officials were on hand for a ribbon cutting Thursday morning to mark the lowering of the first of three pipelines that are not deep enough to allow the channel to be dredged to its target depth of 16 feet. Boardwalk Pipeline Company bagan drilling pilot holes at the port to push a 26-inch pipeline deeper under the port channel, allowing for the dredging project bids to go out this summer.
“Lowering this pipeline will take about three months,” said Port of Iberia Executive Director Craig Romero. “We hope to have all three done and start dredging in the fall.”
Relocating the Boardwalk pipeline is expected to cost $4.98 million. The other two — one for Shell Oil, the other for Kinder Morgan, are expected to cost $11.2 million to lower below the dredging depth. The lowering will also leave room so that the channel can be dredged deeper if necessary without having to move obstructions.
The second two pipeline relocation projects are expected to be complete by October. The port has already done work to build up bulkheads and dredge within the port boundaries to a depth of 20 feet.
Increasing the depth of the access for the port will allow larger projects to be built at the facility. It will also increase the number of vessels that can operate from the port, making it more beneficial to the businesses located there.
“Dynamic, Omega, Frank’s, they are all being denied the ability to bid on projects because of navigation charts showing a ridiculously low depth at the Port of Iberia,” Romero said previously.
Once the last of the pipelines has been lowered, the dredging of the channel between the port and the Intracoastal Waterway will begin. According to Romero, two dredges will be working on the channel, with completion of the project expected in eight to 10 months at a cost of between $14 million and $16 million.
The total cost for the project is expected to be $34 million.
