Virtual public meeting for the New York & New Jersey Harbor deepening study

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) will next month hold a virtual public meeting for the New York & New Jersey Harbor Deepening and Channel Improvements Draft Feasibility Study.

The public meeting will take place on Thursday, December 3, 2020, with sessions starting at 2 p.m.–4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time, reported the Corps.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate modifications to the existing 50-foot Harbor Deepening Project due to the accelerating expansion of the volume of trade that has taken place since the existing 50-foot federal navigation project was authorized in 2000.

In particular, vessels now calling at the Port of New York and New Jersey are nearly three times the size of the design vessel of the original Harbor Deepening Project, and even larger vessels, already in service globally, will soon be calling at the Port.

The Draft IFR/EA addresses the need for safer and more efficient channels capable of safely accommodating the vessels navigating the New York Harbor at present and reasonably projected to be navigating them in the future.

The measures considered include channel widening, deepening, bend easing, improving vessel scheduling, relocating navigation aids, and increasing tugboat assistance, among other measures channel improvements of the existing New York New Jersey (NYNJ) Harbor Deepening Project.

The tentatively selected plan (TSP) is to deepen the pathways to Elizabeth – Port Authority Marine Terminal and Port Jersey – Port Authority Marine Terminal by up to 5 feet (to a maintained depth of -55 feet MLLW).

Specifically, the TSP involves deepening and attendant widening of the Ambrose Channel, Anchorage Channel, the Kill van Kull Channel, Newark Bay Channel, South Elizabeth Channel, and Elizabeth Channel, and Port Jersey Channel.

The Draft IFR/EA is out for 45 day public comment through December 19 and may be found at the USACE New York District’s website.