Army Corps, SCSPA sign Charleston agreement
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Carolina State Ports Authority on Monday signed a cost-sharing agreement on the next phase of the project to deepen the harbor of the Port of Charleston, which has been estimated to deliver $106 million in annual national benefits, the Journal of Commerce reported.
Charleston’s current channel depths at low tide are 47 feet in the entrance channel and 45 feet in the inner harbor.
More than 360 ships too big for the Panama Canal have already called Charleston, three years before the $5.25-billion canal expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2014. More than 80 percent of the ship capacity on order is for ships too big for the existing canal.
In May, the Corps included funding for the feasibility study of the Charleston Harbor post-45-foot deepening project in its Fiscal Year 2011 Work Plan.
“While Charleston today has the region’s deepest channels and handles ships actually drawing up to 48 feet, this project will remove the tidal restrictions associated with the larger ships serving world trade,” said Jim Newsome, president & CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority.
The U.S. Congress already authorized the Charleston deepening through the study phases, and the Reconnaissance Study approved last July concluded that Charleston is likely “the cheapest South Atlantic harbor to deepen to 50 feet.”
The next step in the project is to begin the National Environmental Policy Act process by planning and executing public and stakeholder meetings.
Charleston’s current channel depths at low tide are 47 feet in the entrance channel and 45 feet in the inner harbor.
More than 360 ships too big for the Panama Canal have already called Charleston, three years before the $5.25-billion canal expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2014. More than 80 percent of the ship capacity on order is for ships too big for the existing canal.
In May, the Corps included funding for the feasibility study of the Charleston Harbor post-45-foot deepening project in its Fiscal Year 2011 Work Plan.
“While Charleston today has the region’s deepest channels and handles ships actually drawing up to 48 feet, this project will remove the tidal restrictions associated with the larger ships serving world trade,” said Jim Newsome, president & CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority.
The U.S. Congress already authorized the Charleston deepening through the study phases, and the Reconnaissance Study approved last July concluded that Charleston is likely “the cheapest South Atlantic harbor to deepen to 50 feet.”
The next step in the project is to begin the National Environmental Policy Act process by planning and executing public and stakeholder meetings.