Funding secured for major dredging projects in Texas

More funding is on the way for several ship channel improvement projects in Texas, including the Brazos Island Harbor (Port of Brownsville), the Corpus Christi Ship Channel (Port of Corpus Christi Authority), the Galveston Harbor and Channel (Port of Galveston), and the Houston Ship Channel (Port of Houston), informs the Army Corps’ Galveston District.

The Biden Administration announced March 29, that it will invest more than $2.7 billion in funding to [300] Army Corps projects throughout the country focused on strengthening ports and waterways in addition to other funding already received by the ports for projects.

The Biden Administration is to invest a total of nearly $17 billion in new funding and other supplemental appropriations in fiscal year 2022 and 2023 for over 800 projects across 55 states and territories.

The Galveston District plays a key role in America’s well-being by keeping waterways open for navigation and commerce and is directly responsible for monitoring, maintaining and improving more than 1,000 miles of Federal channels within Coastal Texas.

“I am so incredibly proud of Galveston District and all of its Champions of the Coast,” said Col. Timothy R. Vail, District Commander. “Every navigation project has now been authorized for construction, including full funding to complete Brazos Island Harbor, as well as Corpus and Galveston.”

The FY23 President’s Budget proposed a total of $213 million for Operations and Maintenance funding the 1,000 of Federal navigation channels within Texas, which is an increase from $113 million proposed in FY22 President’s Budget.

The additional funding will significantly increase the amount of maintenance dredging, resulting in greater channel availability and increase navigational safety for the project users.