South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) in the US is set to receive $41.4m in new funding from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project.
Funding will be provided under USACE’s Fiscal Year 19 Work Plan and is expected to help deepen the Charleston Harbor to 52ft.
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SCPA started construction of the harbour deepening project in February, which was authorised by the US Congress in 2016.
Construction followed the first two dredging contracts valued at around $300m awarded by USACE.
The newly announced USACE fund has brought the total federal funding for the harbour deepening project to $108m.
The state of South Carolina has also earmarked a total of $350m for the project.
SCPA president and CEO Jim Newsome said: “By 2021, the port will achieve 52ft of depth, making it the deepest harbour on the East Coast, an advantage that will add significant capability in the Southeast, the fastest growing region in the country.
“This depth advantage is vitally important for significant long-term volume growth and the deployment of large container ships.”
Once completed, the harbour deepening project is anticipated to help the US East Coast ports to better handle 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent container unit (TEU) ships.
The project is also expected to help the ports handle a new 18,000 TEU ship that is scheduled to be called at the ports next year.
It will allow the Inner Harbor to offer 52ft of depth with a 54ft Entrance Channel.
