Harbour project receives additional US$2.5m

In the just released US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) work plan for the remainder of fiscal year 2012, the USACE allocated a total of US$3,088,000 to the work. That includes the US$588,000 originally budgeted, with the additional amount coming from a fund created by Congress for underfunded port projects around the nation.

According to the USACE, deepening the Savannah Harbour up to 48 feet (14.63 m) will bring more than US$115m in annual economic benefits to the US, primarily by lowering transportation costs.

This new funding will be used to develop the detailed construction designs required to provide the deeper channel as well as the environmental mitigation components of the project. The design work will need to be completed before moving to construction following the approvals by the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of the Army and the Administrator of the EPA.