Port of Savannah sets new record

[thelakelander]

Hmmm...those guys are so far ahead, in addition to being better leveraged financially and being in more advantageous physical locations.  We don't even know if we can pay to dredge and they've moved on to collaborating how to further set themselves apart from rest. 

It's not bad to at least have a....


Just saying....

[riverkeepered]

What just happened with the increased estimate for the cost to dredge the Savannah River could actually hurt Jacksonville at both the local and federal level.  With the financial burden of the pension problem, the City Council members are likely already nervous about the prospect of also funding a highly speculative and extremely expensive port expansion project.   The Army Corps' poor track record of accurately projecting the cost of these mega-projects should give them pause, and Savannah's cost increase will only add to their consternation.  Based on what we have seen, the price tag to dredge the St. Johns is only going up.

Even though Savannah will now need an additional $267 million, the Army Corps also dialed up their Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) from 5.5 to 7.3.  This is the highest BCR of any dredging project in the country and over 2 1/2 times higher than Jacksonville's BCR, which is 2.7.   Since they are already underway with their dredging, the local share has already been fully funded by the Georgia legislature, the BCR is so high, and they are growing at such a phenomenal rate, I would assume that their stock among federal lawmakers has only gone up. They clearly make the most sense from a taxpayer investment standpoint.

I agree - time for Plan B.