The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) director and chief executive officer James K. Lyons and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mobile District commander Colonel Sebastian Joly have signed an agreement to deepens and widen Alabama’s only deep-water seaport.
The Mobile Harbor Pre-Constructions, Engineering and Design Agreement was signed at the port authority’s headquarters in Mobile, Alabama, on October 2, 2019.
It will lead to a project depth of 50 feet, with additional depths for wave allowances and advanced maintenance. Furthermore, it will include the widening the Bay Channel by 100 feet for three nautical miles to accommodate two-way vessel traffic and other safety improvements; construction will begin in late-2020.
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In a statement, Lyons said the agreement was a “critical step toward realizing the port’s ability to accommodate the larger ships serving the world’s major trade lanes, while improving vessel transit efficiencies and safety in our port.”
The harbor improvement project is just one of many investment projects which are designed to help Alabama’s seaports remain competitive.
Other projects include the $50 million Phase 3 container terminal expansion which is expected to be finished in early 2020 and will deliver another 20 acres of handling yard and extend the dock to simultaneous berth of two Post-Panamax-sized ships.
In total, $450 million has been spent on marine and rail container intermodal facilities, including two Super Post-Panamax and two Post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes.
