Posted on September 4, 2017
By Sergio Chapa, San Antonio Business Journal
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Port Corpus Christi are one step closer to starting a project to deepen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
The Port of Corpus Christi Authority Commission approved the terms of a project partnership agreement on Friday morning allowing the 27-year-old project to finally move forward.
Under its terms, the Army Corps of Engineers will deepen the ship channel from 45 feet deep and 400 feet wide to 54 feet deep and 520 feet wide. The jointly-funded $326 million project will allow two-way traffic and supertankers with a draft of 50 feet to travel through the ship channel.
Over the next few years, the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to provide $226 million towards the project while the port will provide $100 million.
The Army Corps of Engineers is still awaiting its funding but Port Corpus Christi Executive Director John LaRue told the Business Journal that the port is immediately providing $32 million to get the project started as soon as possible. LaRue said the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release a request for proposals for the dredging project this fall with the first dredge expected to begin by the end of the year.
Port officials have began asking for the channel to be deepened in the early 1990s and although Congress authorized the project in 2007, it had gone unfunded until now.
Once complete, the project will allow supertankers capable of passing through the recently expanded Panama Canal to travel into and out of the port fully loaded.
“It’s been in the works for 27 years,” LaRue said. “This is a big step forward. It will give our customers a more competitive edge.”
Port Corpus Christi Deputy Executive Director Sean Strawbridge told the Business Journal that deepening the channel will allow deep draft vessels to export larger volumes of crude oil, refined products and agricultural goods from the port.
“This is a major step forward in the United States’ efforts to achieve global energy dominance,” Strawbridge said.
Source: San Antonio Business Journal
