CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Port of Corpus Christi is celebrating as the last piece of the project to deepen and widen the ship channel is now in place.
Back in 1990, the United States Congress authorized a study to find out whether it was feasible to expand the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
It took another 27 years before the work actually began.
But now, the final phase of the more than $681 million project is finally in sight.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded the fourth and final contract for the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project.
Port Director of Channel and DMPA (Dredged Material Placement Area) Development Dan Koesema said the work will go to Texas-based Callan Marine and will cover a 12-mile stretch.
"It’s the western part of the inner harbor reach, and to try to put that into context, it really runs from about Navigation Blvd. to Suntide Rd," he said.
Koesema said that once complete, the ship channel will be the most improved waterway along the U.S. Gulf Coast, effectively widening the channel from 400 feet to 530 feet and deepening it from 47 feet to 54 feet.
While that may not sound like much, it is enough for the larger vessels to come in fully loaded, something they cannot do right now.
"Those vessels load to about a 51- or 52-foot draft, so there’s two or three feet of under-keel clearance, and that allows them to safely get through the passage in the channel," he said.
Something that caught our attention was finding out what they do with the material that is scooped out of the harbor because there is a lot of it.
"It’s 5 million cubic yards. So, to keep that in perspective, it’s like three Astrodome stadiums full of dredge material," he said.
According to Lisa Finn with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it will become part of a beneficial use project, helping to nourish degrading marshes in the Nueces Delta Preserve as part of the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program.
Port officials said they believe that dredging could start in January and be finished in early 2025.
They also point out that the progress being made is not only good for the Port of Corpus Christi but also for the entire Coastal Bend region because of the increased economic opportunities it will bring to the area.
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