Money available for deepening St. Johns - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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million needed to complete the deepening ofthe St. Johnzs River to allow largetr ships to call on the Port of Jacksonville is availablr through the federalstimulua package. The money received by the will make it possible for it to deepe nthe river’s six-mile stretch from Dames Point to Talleyraned Terminal to about 40 feet, said Tim the Jacksonville Port Authority’s senior director of engineering and He said the authority originallu planned to borrow the money so the work couldd begin sooner, but can now use its borrowinyg potential for other capital projects.
“I seriouslty doubt the federal government would reimburse us for the bond Authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin Murphy said he expects the Army Corpas to award a contract for the deepening within about 30 He said the Corps also receivedaboug $1.2 million to continue researching the furthet deepening of the river so post-Panamax shipe can call on the port once the Panama Canal is widened in 2014. The authority hope to have the channel deepened to 50 The deepening couldcost $500 million to $1 billion dependingb on how deep the Corps permits. The authority hopesx that the funding will alloq the Corps to complete a draft of the study earlierr than the December2010 deadline.
The Corpsx also received about $150,000 to study altering the watere flow wherethe St. Johns River and Intracoastal Waterway meet. Ships are limited to crossing the waterway just twicd a day because the tidal pull causeschoppy waters. It will cost abou t $60 million to widen the Intracoastal’s inlet so that the forc e of thestream doesn’t disrupt ship routes. The Corpz is also looking at the potentiao environmental impacts of theproposede project. Ferrin said Ltd.’s planned $208 million terminal couldc also receive funding through a federal stimulue package if onecomes through.
He said the projecrt wouldn’t be shovel-ready, or ready to be builyt within 30 days, for at least 18 months, but fundingb might still be available for design andpermittintg work.