The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $46 million for the Jacksonville Harbor deep draft navigation project in its FY 2019 Work Plan.
This comes in addition to the $50 million in federal funding directed to JAXPORT for the project over the past two fiscal years, representing a substantial federal investment in growing commerce and trade in Northeast Florida.
Following the Army Corps’s announcement, Congressman Rutherford released the following statement: “ Additional federal investment into the expansion at JAXPORT is another major victory for our region.”
“ JAXPORT recently became the largest port by container volume in the state of Florida. Continued federal investment in the deep dredge project marks a significant step toward furthering JAXPORT’s substantial contributions to Northeast Florida and to our nation .” said Rutherford.
The 47-foot deepening improvement project, authorized by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, is expected to create 15,000 new jobs, with an estimated $24 return for every $1.00 invested.
JAXPORT is a significant economic engine and prosperous port of entry for commerce and trade on the Eastern Seaboard, supporting $26.9 billion in total economic output, 132,000 jobs, and $727 million in state and local taxes, of which $169 million is directly generated by cargo operations.