The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released their Fiscal Year 2017 Work Plan which allocated $29.25 million towards to the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project, the Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) informs.
That money, combined with the $33 million that Congress approved earlier in the month, represents the final federal appropriations to complete the deepening of the Delaware River navigation channel to 45-feet.
“This news comes at the perfect time,” said Jeff Theobald PhilaPort’s CEO. “The completion of the channel deepening in conjunction with Governor Wolf’s $300 million investment towards improving landside infrastructure, will enable our Packer Avenue Marine Terminal to be the first terminal on the river to accept the larger vessels!”
The Delaware River Channel Deepening Project is a 103-mile-long $392 million project and this federal scheme is funded by both federal and local sources.
The PhilaPort is the local sponsor of the project and the signatory of the Project Cooperation Agreement known as the PCA. Pennsylvania has spent $137 million to ensure this economic engine keeps up with competing ports in the Mid-Atlantic.
This is the final piece of funding that ensures that the Delaware River will be deepened to 45-feet by December 2017, said the PhilaPort in its release.
Additional work to complete the project will continue through 2018.
[mappress mapid=”24130″]