Red tape threatens to delay river deepening to 2016

[thelakelander]

The Jacksonville Port Authority and its allies are ramping up pressure on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed the deepening of the St. Johns River so bigger ships will have access to the port when the Panama Canal is expanded in late 2014.

The Army Corps said the soonest fully loaded, bigger ships that are able to pass through the expanded Panama Canal will be able to access the port is 2016, but the authority said the timeline is too conservative.

“2016 isn’t acceptable and we have to get closer to 2014,” said Roy Schleicher, the chief of commercial services for the authority. “We could very well have this done by 2014.”

The timing of the dredging project, which could cost $1 billion or more, is critical. If Jacksonville is late to have deep water access, the larger ships would go to other ports instead. But Jacksonville could attract shipping lines’ customers if it could show the port has other advantages and will get post-Panamax access soon, said John Martin, president and CEO of port and shipping consultants John C. Martin & Associates LLC.

“This is not the death knell,” he said. “There is some wiggle room and ways to adjust.”

full article: http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2010/02/01/story1.html?b=1265000400^2801571

[mtraininjax]

With the Navy bringing in a carrier, this will get done sooner than that date, the Navy will pressure the Army Corps of Engineers at that end, and then once that is done, it makes no sense not to finish the rest. Throwing around 1 billion is not a big deal anymore, we have a deficit of 14 trillion, enough debt for every man, woman, child to the tune of 40,000 in debt. So what's a billion more that actually will create jobs and revenue for Jax?

[tufsu1]

It took 30 years to start dredging the Delaware River...

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100131_Critics_weigh_options_after_dredging_OK.html

[mtraininjax]

Yeah, I don't see Georgia or the State of Florida jumping in to complain here. I also did not see the Navy as someone wanting to stand in the way of this progress.

So again, I don't see a parallel to your story and the dredging of the St. Johns.

The Corps will be the whipping boy of the Navy if it chooses.

[BridgeTroll]

The Navy only needs a small portion(relatively) dredged, where the Port authority needs much more.