Norfolk Harbor dredging project to deliver the East Coast’s widest and deepest channels by 2024.
Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen A. Edwards and Col. Brian P. Hallberg, the US Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District commander, signed the Project Partnership Agreement.
The Port of Virginia in the US has received federal funding for expansion works that would make it the deepest port on the nation’s East Coast. Dredging the Norfolk Harbor will create safer access for larger commercial and military vessels, as well as provide new economic opportunities for the Hampton Roads region, Port of Virginia, officials said in a press release.
The Port of Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on May 20, 2022, signed the agreement initiating the federal government to begin its financial investment in the construction effort to create broadening and deepening of the shipping channels on the East Coast by late 2024, The project will deepen the commercial shipping channels from the Atlantic Ocean into the harbor to at least 55 feet and widen them enough to accommodate two-way traffic of ultra-large container ships, creating the deepest and widest port on the East Coast. In some areas, the channels will be widened to more than 1,400 feet across. Dredging this port is very essential for ports to remain in operation and this will also ensure continued safe and unrestricted navigation and as well as to attract more cargo and increase efficiency at these terminals.
When the Army Corps began to estimate the economic value of deeper and wider Norfolk ports and commercial transport channels, the federal government and the port agreed to share 50-50 of the cost at the start of this project in 2015 and In December 2019, dredging works started for this project. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law a final federal funding installment of $72m fund has been provided for this project.
A 2019 article released by the office of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) said that the Port of Virginia receives on average about four ultra-large container vessels per week, mostly over 1,000 feet in length. Hence, the upcoming expansion will reduce the vessel delays that are caused by these ultra-large ships.
Keith Lockwood, Norfolk District Water Resources Division chief said “Over the course of the project, we’ll dredge a large volume of sands – millions of cubic yards,” “The US Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Port Authority are collaborating with the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach to maximize the beneficial use of this dredged sand by placing it along beaches for additional coastal protection.”
Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen Edwards said:“The benefits of this project are unparalleled anywhere on the US East Coast,” .
“Over the course of the project, we’ll dredge a large volume of sands – millions of cubic yards,” said Keith Lockwood, Norfolk District Water Resources Division chief. “The US Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Port Authority are collaborating with the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach to maximize the beneficial use of this dredged sand by placing it along beaches for additional coastal protection.”
