With the signing of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 earlier this year, many people expected construction of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to start immediately. However, several actions need to take place before construction can occur.

“ Environmental monitoring ranks high in the hierarchy of actions that must take place before construction begins ,” according to Jason O’Kane, senior project manager for the SHEP with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District . “ Some of the pre-construction environmental monitoring takes a year or longer to accomplish before we can begin any work .”