Posted on September 28, 2017
Port Commission Chairman of the Port of Houston Authority Janiece Longoria has stressed the importance of restoring and improving the Houston Ship Channel due to its importance to the future of the Houston region, state and nation. In comments to the Port Commission during its regular monthly meeting, she highlighted impacts of Hurricane Harvey and in her remarks stated, “We are in desperate need of additional relief to properly dredge the channel so that it can accommodate normal commerce at its authorized depth and width.“
“We believe that rather than just returning the channel to its pre-storm depth and width, we must enhance its efficiency and we must build in resiliency, to make it better for ever- growing demand.”
Chairman Longoria presented satellite images of the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel taken days before and after the devastating rains inundated the Gulf Coast. “The floodwater coming through our system deposited tons and tons of silt into the Houston Ship Channel and throughout Galveston Bay,” she said. “While the Channel is open and commerce is flowing with some restrictions, the Houston Ship Channel needs significant dredging to address these storm damages.”
Additional images presented during the meeting showed dramatic shoaling at the entrances of the port’s three major terminals. “There has been ten feet of sediment collected as a result of massive amounts of floodwater that has carried this silt into the channel,” Chairman Longoria noted. “Again, this seriously restricts commerce to and from our facilities.” Port Houston’s two container terminals, Barbours Cut and Bayport together are responsible for nearly 70 percent of the container cargo in the gulf.
Chairman Longoria and Executive Director Roger Guenther both stressed during the meeting that maintaining the Houston Ship Channel’s depth is critical to commerce. A study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute determined that a loss of one foot of depth in the channel costs the U.S. economy as much as $281 million dollars per year.
Chairman Longoria added that the impact of Hurricane Harvey highlights the importance of the channel as a critical component of the national economy. “We must also look at improvements to this waterway that make it more resilient and reduce the impacts of future weather events,” she stressed. “We believe that rather than just returning the channel to its pre-storm depth and width, we must enhance its efficiency and we must build in resiliency, to make it better for ever- growing demand.”
The Chairman stated also that part of the channel’s recovery is to “harden this asset to make it better for the future,” which may include a channel that is deepened and widened.
Source: BusinessWire
