Charleston Harbor deepening moving quickly
The planned half-billion dollar deepening of the Charleston Harbor shipping channel has passed another milestone, and final approval of the plan is expected from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by early fall.
Three years ago, the Obama administration designated Charleston and four other harbor projects as nationally significant and allowed required studies to be expedited.
That has already saved years and millions of dollars on the Charleston project. And new studies to be conducted in the coming months could lower the estimated $509 million price tag.
A look at the status of the deepening project:
Deeper water
The Corps last year released studies proposing that the shipping channel in the inner harbor be deepened to 52 feet from its current depth of 45 feet. The entrance channel would be extended and deepened from 47 feet to 54 feet. The deepening is needed so the harbor can handle a new generation of larger container ships.
Lower price tag?
The $509 million price tag includes estimates of the maximum width of the shipping channels and ship turning basins needed. New ship simulation studies will be conducted in the coming months. If some areas don’t need to be quite as wide “that would save environmental impacts and save on dredging costs,” said Brian Williams, the project manager for the Corps.
Fast-track studies
The environmental studies were fast-tracked. In the past, Corps staffers would have gone through a long process of deciding what needed to be studied and how.
Then those suggestions would be reviewed by environmental and other agencies before studies would even begin. This time, representatives of those agencies and other interested parties, such as the harbor pilots, were involved from the beginning, saving time and money, said Bret Walters, chief of the planning and environmental branch of the Charleston District of the Corps.
Time and money saved
When studies for the Charleston deepening project began in 2011, they were expected to take as long as a decade and cost $19 million. Under the fast-track system they were completed in four years and cost $11 million.
Another milestone
Last week the Civil Works Review Board of the Corps in Washington, made up of top Corps officials, signed off on the feasibility study and environmental impact statement. Approval came after a meeting attended by, among others, Corps officials, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Jim Newsome, the president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority. Final Corps approval is expected by early fall, then Congress will be asked to authorize and appropriate money for the federal share, an estimated $166 million.
What’s next
The design work on the project is expected to take between 18 months and two years. The Charleston District this week received $1.3 million in federal money for that work, which can begin even before congressional approval. The last time the Charleston Harbor was deepened the work itself took about four years.
This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Charleston Harbor deepening moving quickly."