Georgia officials on Monday announced a key legislative hearing as they seek a federal investigation into whether the shipping channel to the Port of Savannah should be deepened again following the port expansion, which is expected to be completed in 2022 and cost nearly $1 billion. Support was taken away.
Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said during a visit to the port that he supports authorizing the study as part of a vast infrastructure bill being drafted by his committee. .
“One of the things we want to make sure is a top priority is to further expand the port here in Savannah,” Graves told port employees and reporters as cranes unloaded large ships at the pier. Ta. “Completing this research is my top priority.”
Georgia legislators support study on whether Savannah Harbor needs to be deepened
It’s been less than two years since the Army Corps of Engineers completed its final project to add 5 feet (1.5 meters) to the Savannah River, which connects the port to the Atlantic Ocean. The expansion cost state and federal taxpayers $937 million.
The Georgia Ports Authority is asking Congress to consider a new round of deepening shipping lanes in Savannah. Agency leaders say deeper water is needed to allow a growing class of giant cargo ships to arrive at ports with full cargo at low tide.
Savannah is home to the fourth-busiest port in the U.S. for cargo transported in containers, which are giant metal boxes used to transport a variety of goods, from appliances to frozen chicken. . Savannah handled imports and exports of 4.9 million container units in the 2023 calendar year.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (center) visiting the Port of Savannah with Representatives Sam Graves (R-Ga., center left), Buddy Carter (left), and Mike Collins (R-Ga.) ) and talk. , center left, Monday, March 25, 2024, at the Georgia Port Authority’s Garden City Terminal in Savannah, Georgia. The Georgia Ports Authority is asking Congress to further deepen the Savannah channel. (Stephen B. Morton/Georgia Port Authority, via AP)
“When you come to this port and take this many ships, you don’t even have to sell your ship to anyone,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who joined Mr. Graves at the port. “Just take a look and you’ll see how incredible it is.”
On January 26, Georgia’s Democratic senators and representatives (nine Republicans, five Democrats) wrote to leaders of Graves’ committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee asking them to approve the study. I signed a letter asking for it. The letter says an increasing proportion of ships arriving in Savannah are having to wait for high tide before reaching the port.
“There’s no stopping,” Georgia Republican Rep. Buddy Carter, whose district includes the port, said during Graves’ visit. “If we’re not moving forward, we’re moving backwards. We need to keep moving forward. That’s why this research is so necessary.”
Graves said he is pushing to get the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, which includes the Corps’ approval to consider further expansion of the Port of Savannah, before the House vote this summer.
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It will be the early stage of a long process.
Feasibility studies for the last round of dredging began in 1997 and took nearly 20 years to begin. This work was finally completed by him in May 2022.
Griff Lynch, CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, said the Army Corps, which oversees navigation projects on the nation’s waterways, could work more efficiently this time and complete new projects within 10 years. He said he believed it.
