The Port of Oakland’s self-titled 50-Foot Harbor Deepening Project, aimed at maintaining the depth of the port’s waterways to accommodate the largest classes of container vessels, is set to receive $18 million in operations and maintenance from the US Army Corps of Engineers’ fiscal year 2011 work plan.
The funding for the project, which the port considers vital to maintain its competitiveness, will come from the federal Harbor Maintenance Fund. The fund is financed through a federal tax on imported containers.
The current port waterway depths of 50 feet were accomplished through a decade-long $433 million project that was completed in 2009. The new funds will be used to counter the natural silting of the port waterways and maintain the 50-foot depths.
Work on maintaining the 50-foot depths at the port will begin later this year.
Continue reading the full article at Pacific Maritime magazine online.
Port of Oakland at night. Photo courtesy of Flickr, Yung Grasshopper
