$55M more to deepen the Delaware
The project to deepen the Delaware River navigation channel will receive $22 million in the Army Corps of Engineers' current fiscal year work plan and $33 million in President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2017, which begins Oct. 1, according to Sen. Robert P. Casey (D., Pa.).
The project to deepen the Delaware River navigation channel will receive $22 million in the Army Corps of Engineers' current fiscal year work plan and $33 million in President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2017, which begins Oct. 1, according to Sen. Robert P. Casey (D., Pa.).
About 80 percent of the channel is now at or deeper than 45 feet, and the dredging work that began in March 2010 should be completed next year, said Ed Voigt, public affairs chief for the Army Corps' Philadelphia District.
Two parts of the channel are currently being deepened: Broadkill Beach in Delaware north of the Broadkill River and an area near Marcus Hook, designated for rock blasting.
The final steps will be deepening roughly 24 miles in the upper Delaware Bay and a section between north Wilmington and the south end of Philadelphia International Airport, Voigt said.
The $55 million, Casey said, "will be the final chunk of federal funding needed" to complete the deepening of a 103-mile stretch of river from Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean from 40 feet to 45 feet to accommodate larger ships. "I am thrilled that the president responded to my urging for the remaining funds to move forward with this critical infrastructure project in Philadelphia," Casey said. "This vital project will lead to economic growth, creation of new jobs, and place Philadelphia in a competitive realm against cities like Baltimore and New York."
The rock blasting near Marcus Hook has to be done between December and mid-March annually because of environmental restrictions related to sturgeon in the river, Voigt said.
"We will get to a certain point by mid-March, then come back in December 2016. The rock blasting should be wrapped up by March 2017," Voigt said.
The State of Pennsylvania, as the local project partner, will contribute 35 percent of the cost of the $360 million multiyear deepening project.
Steamship lines and port officials say the dredging should put more cargo on ships coming into the ports and allow larger ships to sail the river when the Panama Canal expansion is completed this year.
Now, large ships have to be careful coming up the Delaware. Some transfer cargo onto smaller vessels, a process known as "lightering," before coming upriver.
With deeper water, Philadelphia could be a ship's first port of call, instead of second or later.
Ships are getting bigger, and the largest U.S. ports already have deeper water: Baltimore; Norfolk, Va.; and Oakland, Calif., are dredged to 50 feet. Charleston, S.C., is at 45 feet, and Savannah, Ga., at 42 feet. Los Angeles soon will be deepened to 53 feet, and Long Beach, Calif., to 76 feet. The Port of New York and New Jersey is being deepened to 50 feet from 45.
215-854-2831 @LoydLinda