Port Everglades Harbor deepening plan on display

The USACE Jacksonville District, in partnership with Broward County’s Port Everglades, will conduct a virtual public presentation of its plan for deepening and widening the Port Everglades Harbor on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, online from 6-8 p.m.

During the presentation, the Corps designers and managers will provide an overview of the project and discuss rock pretreatment methods, including confined underwater blasting needed for construction.

The proposed project, authorized by Congress in 2016 in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, envisions deepening and widening the Port of Everglades navigation channel to meet the present and future needs of the Port as a major East Coast hub of maritime commerce and tourism.

The present configuration of the federal project dates back to the 1980s, leaving the Port with insufficient channel depths and widths to accommodate today’s larger vessels and compete is today’s global marketplace.

The Corps and its non-federal sponsor, Broward County, will release a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) in December 2020 for a 45-day public review period.

During that time, the Corps will conduct a National Environmental Policy Act public meeting to review information in the draft SEIS.

In fact, the deepening and widening construction for Port Everglades will begin in the fall of 2023 and continue through summer 2029.