Congress included $157.3 million in federal funding to dredge the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The money is in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, recently signed into law by President Joe Biden. Courtesy photo
The Port of Corpus Christi will receive $157.3 million in federal funding after President Joe Biden signed the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 recently approved by Congress. The money will go toward finishing the final phase of the Ship Channel Improvement Project and is the largest single-year federal allocation for the project.
The port’s four-phase project will deepen the channel from 47 feet to 54 feet, widen it from 480 feet to 530 feet, and add 400 feet of barge shelves, which are deepened areas outside of the limits of the channel that increase separation between barges and ships.
“The Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, over 30 years in the making, will significantly increase the ability of our customers and port stakeholders to move greater volumes safely and efficiently,” said Sean Strawbridge, chief executive officer for the Port of Corpus Christi.
Phase 1, from the Gulf of Mexico to Harbor Island, is already complete. Phases 2 and 3, running from Harbor Island to the Chemical Turning Basin, are under construction. Work on Phase 4, from the Chemical Turning Basin to the Viola Turning Basin, will begin this year.
At the project's completion, projected in 2024, the Corpus Christi Ship Channel will be the most improved channel along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
chuck@thepicayune.com
