Posted on April 6, 2021
The Charleston District has had many influential projects over the last 150 years that continue to have an impact today. At the same time, the District is currently working on hundreds of different projects throughout Charleston, the state of South Carolina and the entire southeast. While all these projects will have a great impact on those around them, here are a few projects currently in the works that will have massive impacts on the region.
Charleston Harbor Post 45 Deepening Project
Post 45 is nearing completion, with construction scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2022. This spring, there will be up to 10 dredges working in Charleston Harbor at the same time trying to get this work done. This is the largest project the District has ever taken on at more than $500 million and has been in the works for more than 10 years. The completion of this project will mean that any containership can access Charleston Harbor at any tide. Charleston Harbor will be the deepest harbor on the east coast and will continue to impact jobs all throughout the state.
Charleston Peninsula Study
The Charleston District is currently in the middle of a study looking at a possible solution to flood risk on the downtown Charleston peninsula. The study has looked at storm surge and other risks from coastal storm events to try to determine the best possible long-term flood reduction strategy. The District released a tentative plan in the summer of 2020 and collected more than 500 comments that will be addressed in the final proposed plan in 2021. The study will make a recommendation on a future plan, but it will have to be approved and appropriated by Congress to be constructed.
Semmes Dam
Along with the many other projects happening at Fort Jackson, the Charleston District is rebuilding Semmes Dam. The project is using the latest innovations in engineering technology to withstand severe storms and floods. The dam is environmentally sustainable and self-operational but will be inspected and maintained on a regular basis after water is returned to the basin. The dam will be used to store water in Semmes Lake and be available for use by residents of the fort.
Regulatory
The Charleston District Regulatory Division is currently processing a permit application for a project located along the Catawba River in Chester County. The South Carolina Department of Commerce filed the application in cooperation with XXXXX, an internationally recognized wine and spirits production and bottling company. The proposed 630-acre site would impact approximately 8,000 linear feet of federally jurisdictional tributaries and just over an acre of wetlands but would bring industry to an area in need of additional new jobs. The proposed mitigation for the project would increase the protected lands around nearby Landsford Canal State Park and would add to mitigation previously authorized for the Carolina Panthers as part of the permit issued for their new headquarters and training facility in 2020. This is one of many projects the Charleston District has worked on with the Department of Commerce through the Water Resources Development Act and there will surely be many more in the future.
IIS
The Interagency and International Support program works with non-Department of Defense federal agencies to complete critical projects. The Charleston District is currently working on two parking decks for the Veteran’s Administration; one in Charleston at the Ralph H. Johnson VA and one in Columbia at the Dorn VA. The Charleston project will add 950 parking spaces, as well as address tidal flooding and stormwater drainage issues. The Columbia project will add 345 parking spaces by constructing a new garage adjacent to the existing one and expanding the existing garage to four levels. These two projects are just an example of the work USACE does for other agencies to ensure they can accomplish their missions.
