Col. Daniel Hibner, commander of the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has announced that deepening work for the inner portion of the Savannah harbor is officially underway.
This initiates the final construction phase of the 20-year effort to deepen the third busiest container port in the United States.
“The Savannah Harbor Expansion project is unique among other deepening projects in the value it brings to the nation,” Hibner said. “ The deepening of the Savannah Harbor will yield exceptional economic benefits to the entire nation.”
By deepening the entire harbor and shipping channel, larger cargo vessels, now filling the world’s shipping fleets, will be able to call on the Port of Savannah with a longer tide window and with heavier loads of imports and exports.
Once finished the harbor will be 47 feet deep, as opposed to the current 42-foot authorized depth. The Corps completed deepening the outer harbor, from approximately Fort Pulaski National Monument to 19 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, in March 2018.
The Corps of Engineers partnered with multiple contractors and agencies to reach this point in the deepening process. Chief among the partners were the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Ports Authority.
The Norfolk Dredging Company secured the contract for this phase of the deepening. Their dredging operations will continue around the clock daily. Workers will be in the channel from approximately Fort Pulaski, up the Savannah River to the Garden City port, said USACE.