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Tag: dredging

Deep dive

The Port of Virginia has set the stage to offer the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast by 2025, with the recent widening of Thimble Shoal Channel West allowing for two-way traffic for all vessels, including ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs).

Completed in March, the shipping channel is now as much as 1,400 feet wide in some areas, allowing for two ULCVs to pass at the same time. Previously, the U.S. Coast Guard had one-way restrictions in the area. The widening, which began in 2019, reduces the time large vessels spend on berth by up to 15%.

That’s coupled with the ongoing dredging of the channel and Norfolk Harbor to 55 feet deep, with an ocean approach to 59 feet deep, the only channel on the East Coast with congressional authorization for that depth. Deeper channels can accommodate vessels with deeper drafts, enabling the port to handle a wider range of ships and cargo types, says Cathie J. Vick, the port’s chief development and public affairs officer.

Shipping companies are putting much larger vessels in their East Coast port rotations. The ULCVs coming through the Port of Virginia, though, don’t need to be concerned about channel width, overhead draft restrictions, capacity or cargo handling infrastructure.

The wider channel allows for consistent vessel flow, contributes to greater berth and container yard efficiencies and further improves harbor safety. In addition, the port is quick to load cargo. The turnaround time to load a truck is about 30 minutes. Loading cargo onto a train takes about 36 hours.

The entire dredging project was initially expected to be finished by the end of 2024. However, federal permits allowing local beach replenishment using the dredged material, had to be renewed, delaying completion until fall 2025. Once work is finished, the Port of Virginia will possess the deepest and widest channels on the East Coast.

This is just one part of the port’s $1.4 billion strategic infrastructure investment package to accommodate larger cargo volumes on ULCVs, which have become more frequent port visitors in recent years. The widening and entire dredging costs $450 million, according to Vick. “It will increase the speed of cargo moving through the gateway,” she adds.

Some $72 million of that $450 million is federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The federal government and the port agreed to split the cost in 2015 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began evaluating the potential economic value of expanding and upgrading the port.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior senator, says the project is 20 years in the making and will benefit the port “for years to come. The infrastructure bill is the first big one to happen since the Eisenhower administration, when the interstate system was built. We limped along on making improvements, but the money didn’t allow for big projects like this one.”

The Port of Virginia has also been working on developing Craney Island into a major marine terminal to handle container, bulk, and break-bulk cargo. Upgrades planned for Norfolk International Terminals include new ship-to-shore cranes and an expansion of its central rail yard, set for this year, cementing Virginia’s status as home to the East Coast’s largest intermodal rail port.

“The target is for shipping companies to choose to come to Virginia first when coming to the East Coast,” Vick notes.

Virginia Pilot Association President Capt. Whiting Chisman says the wider channel will provide container and Navy ships with safer travel conditions. This is an even bigger consideration following the March 26 container ship collision with Baltimore’s Key Bridge, which has led to Baltimore-bound ships being diverted to the Port of Virginia and other East Coast ports.

The short-term environmental impact of the dredging will be minimal, according to Joe Rieger, deputy director of restoration for the nonprofit Elizabeth River Project, which supports the environmental health of the river and its role in the local maritime economy. Rieger evaluated the dredging plan because the Elizabeth River is part of the port’s main shipping channel. Dredging and widening is not taking place in shallow water, six feet or less, where the most productive sea life is found, he notes. Benthic organisms, also known as bottom feeders (like worms and shellfish), are typically found at higher densities in shallow water and are the base of the marine food chain. Since the dredging is deepening waters already at 45 feet to 50 feet deep, there’s limited environmental impact.

 “As long as they are not going into shallow water,” he says, “there is no threat.”

Scott Swan, the David L. Peebles Professor of Business at William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, applauds the port taking action to ensure future growth.

“This is a major and impressive feat and unusual for the government to do something before there’s a problem. The port is being proactive and customer-focused,” Swan says. “They have been for 10 years. … It’s amazing they can pull it off. Saving 15% on their time when a vessel is at berth will save money, making the port a profitable choice.

“It’s a large cost savings for these ultra-large container vessels, making the port a better option than others along the East Coast. No other port on the East Coast will have this combination of width and depth.”

Widening of Port of Virginia shipping channel is complete

The Port of Virginia’s shipping channel is now wide enough for two ultra-large container vessels to pass at the same time, concluding a significant part of the $450 million dredging project to make the port the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast. According to the Friday announcement, the port expects to finish the deepening segment of the project in fall 2025, a delay from its previously announced deadline of late 2024.

The dredging project began in 2019, and in 2022, the Port of Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a cost-sharing agreement on the dredging project. As of Friday, the shipping channels are up to 1,400 feet wide in some areas, and the commercial shipping channel and the Norfolk Harbor will be 55 feet deep, while the ocean approach is set to be 59 feet deep.

In previous announcements, the whole dredging project was expected to be finished by the end of 2024, but Port of Virginia spokesman Joe Harris said Friday that federal permits allowing beach replenishment in Virginia Beach had to be renewed, causing a delay of a few months in the deepening segment of the project. Dredge material, a byproduct of the dig, will be used to build up regional beaches, port officials have said.

Harris said it’s possible that dredging will be finished before fall 2025, and noted that the widening is important to ship pilots who travel in and out of the port’s terminals in Norfolk. He added that the port is ahead of schedule on deepening the Thimble Shoal channel, and work is ongoing in the Norfolk Harbor.

The widening of the Thimble Shoal West Reach Channel will allow two ships to pass through the shipping channel at the same time, instead of just one at a time, Harris said in an interview with Virginia Business. “It’s basically making a one-way street a two-way street.” The port expects the expansion to reduce the amount of time an ultra-large container vessel spends on berth by 15%, which will improve efficiency and speed.

Capt. Jenn Stockwell, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Virginia sector, issued a business rules memo for the wider channel Friday, removing the one-way restrictions.

“This is a true advantage for anyone delivering to or from America,” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, which runs the Port of Virginia. “Our wider channel sets the Port of Virginia apart by allowing for consistent vessel flow, increasing berth and container yard efficiencies, and further improving harbor safety.

“Ocean carriers are putting larger vessels into their East Coast port rotations with additional ULCVs on order, and our partners know their vessels will not outgrow our capabilities. In Virginia, there is no concern for channel width, overhead draft restrictions, capacity or cargo handling infrastructure.”

Included in the funding of the project is $72 million in federal money allocated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The federal government and the port agreed to a 50-50 cost share in 2015, when the Army Corps began evaluating the economic value of a deeper and wider harbor and commercial shipping channel.

“The completion of this project is a testament to the collaboration of all port stakeholders in Virginia,” Capt. Whiting Chisman, president of the Virginia Pilot Association, said in a statement Friday. “It is a momentous achievement. The focus of the project more than a decade ago was on creating a channel wide enough and deep enough to safely accommodate a class of [ultra-large] container vessels that were not expected to call the U.S. East Coast for years to come. This port is ready for the future.”

 

Port, Army Corps formalize dredging cost-share agreement

The Port of Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed an agreement Friday that formalized their collaboration on the Norfolk Harbor dredging project to deliver the East Coast’s widest and deepest channels by 2024. The Army Corps also will use federal funding to award its first construction contract for the project, which started in 2019.

Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen A. Edwards and Col. Brian P. Hallberg, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District commander, signed the agreement in Norfolk in a ceremony attended by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young, and several other state and federal elected officials representing Virginia.

“The importance of this moment in the evolution of the Port of Virginia cannot be overstated,” Edwards said in a statement. “This is a modern, 21st-century port and when you couple our land-based assets and capabilities with the deepest and widest channels — and safest harbor — on the entire U.S. East Coast, you have a recipe for success here for decades to come.”

The project will deepen the commercial shipping channels from the Atlantic Ocean into the harbor to at least 55 feet and widen them enough to accommodate two-way traffic of ultra-large container ships, creating the deepest and widest port on the East Coast. In some areas, the channels will be widened to more than 1,400 feet across.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, included the final installment of the federal investment, $72 million. The federal government and the port agreed to a 50-50 cost share in 2015, when the Army Corps began evaluating the economic value of a deeper and wider harbor and commercial shipping channel, and the agreement marks the beginning of the cost share.

Dredge work on the project began in December 2019, and the project is scheduled for completion in 2024. The dredging is just part of the port’s upgrades, which include increasing capacity at Norfolk International Terminals and Virginia International Gateway, and building a burgeoning offshore wind hub. Edwards highlighted all of these goals, as well as improved efficiency at the port during the pandemic, in his first State of the Port Address in April.

“The project is making progress, and we are on budget and on schedule for delivery by late 2024,” said Joe Harris, spokesman for the port.

A byproduct of the dig, known as dredge material, will go to regional beaches.

“Over the course of the project, we’ll dredge a large volume of sands — millions of cubic yards,” Keith Lockwood, Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District Water Resources Division chief, said in a statement. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Port Authority are collaborating with the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach to maximize the beneficial use of this dredged sand by placing it along beaches for additional coastal protection.”

Reps. Elaine Luria and Bobby Scott, Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas, Del. Robert Bloxom Jr., Virginia Transportation Secretary W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller III and Jamie A. Pinkham, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, attended the signing.