Corps, Port Freeport Mark Channel Milestone
The Galveston Engineer District, in partnership with Port Freeport, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 28 to recognize the deepening of the Freeport Harbor Channel in Texas, making it the deepest port on the Gulf Coast.
The Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project has authorized depths ranging as deep as 51 to 56 feet in many areas, increased from 46 feet. This allows for large tankers as well as next-generation container ships.
The project also widens the channel, enhancing the upper turning basin and easing the lower channel bend. The improvements are designed to provide greater access and operating flexibility for larger global vessels while also improving navigation conditions for the pilots and mariners using the channel.
Contract completion is scheduled for later this month, with overall project completion anticipated during the fourth quarter this year. A final clean sweep will help achieve design depth, remove remaining shoal and prepare the improved area for full transit, according to the Galveston Engineer District.
Completed reaches include Reach 3 at 51 feet and Reach 4 at 26 feet. Remaining project dimensions include the Reach 1 Outer Bar at 58 feet, the Reach 1 Jetty and Main Channel reaches at 56 feet and Reach 2 at 51 feet.
Port Freeport said the improvements would strengthen the port’s ability to move cargoes while also bolstering the Texas network of ports and the national supply chains connecting American industries and consumers to global markets.
The program included remarks from Phyllis Saat, Port Freeport executive director/CEO; U.S. Rep. Randy Weber; Port Freeport Commission Chairman Rob Gieske; Brig. Gen. George H. Walter, commander of the Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division; and Sang H. Yi, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities.
The project is estimated to cost $295 million, with $209 million expended so far. It was authorized by Congress in 2014 as a federal cost-shared project. The first dredging contract was awarded in September 2020 to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, with construction on the first segment beginning in April 2021 and completed in September that year. Additional federal funding was received in 2021 through 2023, with federal funding reaching $207.8 million, fully funding the project, in 2023. Brazoria County voters provided $130 million in local funding.
Contracts totaling $10.25 million for the widening of Reach 2 and the dry excavation for the bend easing were completed in April 2022 and March 2023, respectively, by Orion Group Holdings. Dredging was completed in April of this year.
The Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project represents one of the largest infrastructure investments in Port Freeport’s history. The port ranks No. 17 nationally by commercial tonnage. It supports energy, automotive, container, chemical, agricultural and other cargo operations.
