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FDOT awards JAXPORT additional funding for harbor deepening
[ September 23, 2019 // Gary G Burrows ]The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has awarded JAXPORT an additional $35.3 million in funding for the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening project. The funding will be used toward exercising the second phase of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ contract B, which will deepen the project’s next 2.5 miles.
To date, the state of Florida has contributed nearly $71.5 million toward harbor deepening. That funding, combined with significant financial support from the federal government and a private tenant, helps keep the project two years ahead of schedule with anticipated completion in 2023, based on continued funding from all partners.
The Jacksonville Harbor Deepening project is divided into four segments, contracts A-D, which make up the full length of the 13-mile federally authorized project. The current funding model covers the project’s first 11 miles (contracts A, B and C).
Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are simultaneously working to complete contracts A and B, which will deepen a total of 8 miles. Contract A is scheduled to be complete in spring 2020, with contract B scheduled to conclude in May 2021.
Contract C will deepen an additional 3 miles to and at Blount Island and is entering the final design phase.
Deepening the Jacksonville shipping channel to 47 ft. will allow JAXPORT to accommodate more cargo aboard the larger ships currently calling Jacksonville from counties in Asia—including Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand and more. JAXPORT’s Asian container trade is up 9 percent so far in fiscal year 2019, which began on Oct. 1, 2018.
“We are extremely grateful that FDOT continues to invest in JAXPORT, furthering our ability to positively impact the economy of our region and state,” said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green. “The support we have from the state of Florida—combined with support at the federal and local levels and a public-private partnership—all ensures JAXPORT will continue to thrive as a global gateway into the Southeast U.S., attracting more jobs and economic opportunity to Northeast Florida.”
A new economic impact study finds that cargo moving through Jacksonville’s seaport generates more than 138,500 jobs across the state of Florida and $31.1 billion in annual economic output for the region and state.
