The Houston Ship Channel will be expanded following a new agreement between the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Port of Houston Authority.
Following the signing of the Project Partnership Agreement (PPA), the billion-dollar widening and deepening program, Project 11, will award its first dredge contract as early as October 2021.
Once widened and deepened, the waterway will continue to help support and benefit more than 200 private and public facilities alongside it.
The 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel is seen as an economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas, and the US.
In 2020 the USACE ranked the port as the largest port in the nation for total and foreign waterborne tonnage. The channel handles as much vessel traffic as the three largest US. ports combined.
Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther, commented, “It is a critical step to provide a wider, deeper channel that maintains two-way vessel traffic to more safely and efficiently deliver everyday goods and petrochemical products to and from the region.
“This expansion project will help us continue to lead as the top port in the nation, supporting over 3.2 million US jobs – including more than 1.35 million Texas jobs – and bringing $802 billion in economic value to the nation.”
