Phase two of the $12.8 million maintenance dredging at the Port of Redwood City's Redwood Creek channel by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' contractors is underway, and by the time phase three is completed this winter, the Port's navigation channel will be dredged to its authorized depth of 30-feet for the first time since December 2009. The first phase dredged the channel to 28-feet and was completed last December. The depth is crucial for Port channel users. Port officials have been working with the USACE to perform this dredging to increase allowable draft for ships. When Phase one started in September of last year, the safe navigation depth of 22 feet was causing extra costs and logistics problems for the cargo shippers at the port.
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Panamax ships calling with construction materials |
"Increasing the depth of the channel by six feet meant that the cargo carrying capacity of the ships calling at the port increased by 10,000 to 12,000 tons per ship," said Executive Director Michael Giari. Phase two of the dredging project, which should be completed by early August, will bring most of the channel depths down to the project authorized depth of minus 30 feet. Due to limited funding and limits on how much dredged material can be place in San Francisco Bay, Phase three will dredging any remaining high spots in the channel and place the material at an approved "deep" ocean site. Thanks to the support of the port's Congressional delegation, including Congresswom an Jackie Speier and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the City of Redwood City, and Port businesses, the funding for this project was secured last year. The Panamax size ships calling at the Port with construction material from British Columbia have fully loaded drafts of greater than 040 feet. The US Army COE in a recent study concluded that every ocean going ship that calls at the Port has a loaded design draft greater than 30 feet. The shippers have to light load and have told the Port that every foot of increased channel depth helps them to be more efficient and carry more cargo. The port's tonnage has been steadily increasing since 2009 and last year reached 1.8 million metric tons. The majority of the cargo is construction materials to supply the many major construction projects, underway and planned for the Redwood City area and Silicon Valley. |