CHARLESTON HARBOR DEEPENING PROJECT RECEIVES FINAL CORPS APPROVAL

On September 14 the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project received its Chief’s Report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the final approval required before the project can work toward construction – and the project received the approval in a record four years.

Lieutenant General Thomas Bostick commanding general of the Corps signed the report which recommended deepening the Charleston Harbor channel to 52 feet and the entrance channel to 54 feet as well as enlarging turning basins to accommodate for post-Panamax vessels. That would make the harbor the deepest on the East Coast.

In the final step before construction the preconstruction engineering and design (PED) phase of the project received federal funding in July. The Corps and the South Carolina Port Authority signed a Design Agreement which allows the Corps to finalize the project design and produce construction contract documents.