SpaceX Proposes Barge Facility In Louisiana
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is proposing a multimodal cargo facility in Vermilion Parish, La., that would connect the inland waterways to the state highway system. Vermilion Parish is on the Gulf Coast south of Lafayette, La.
According to a permit application filed with the New Orleans Engineer District and the Louisiana Department of Energy and Conservation, the project would encompass a wharf near Freshwater City, along with inland barge facilities and a 16-mile road built to carry heavy and oversized loads. The filing was first reported by local TV station KALB.
The project is needed “to provide privately constructed, year-round marine cargo transfer in lower Vermilion Parish between (i) moderate-draft Gulf vessels that require lock-free access to the Gulf of America, (ii) GIWW barges and (iii) dedicated heavy-haul road connection to the state highway system for oversized, overweight (OS/OW) and bulk cargo that cannot be practically moved on the existing public roads or through existing shallow-draft parish facilities,” according to the application.
The filing doesn’t describe what loads the barges would carry. Duplantis Design Group is the designated agent. DDG is a multi-disciplinary firm that offers 11 service lines: civil engineering, program management, architecture, landscape architecture, coastal engineering, water resources, environmental, surveying, structural engineering, funding advisory and transportation.
The applicants have already performed a geological review of the property, according to the application.
The project is described as including “a moderate-draft Gulf wharf on the Freshwater Bayou Channel south of the USACE Freshwater City Lock; and temporary laydown yard north of the locks; inland wharf components along existing navigation channels providing barge access to the federally maintained Freshwater Bayou and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW); maintenance access dredging of existing channels to support vessel access to the inland and Gulf wharf components and an access road connecting regional highway networks to the Gulf wharf components.
SpaceX estimates the project would require dredging that would affect hundreds of acres of wetlands and water bottoms. The company says it plans to reduce those impacts where possible and use dredged material to help create or restore nearby marsh.
The project would be privately funded. SpaceX lists a proposed construction start date of March 1, 2027, with completion expected by September 1, 2032.
The permit application may be viewed at: https://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/ords/f?p=129:602:102137070137273:::602:P602_APPLICATION_NUM,P602_APPLICATION_NUM_LINE_ID,P602_SHOW_APPL_EMAIL:36343,3,N.
