Corps Of Engineers Releases FY25 Work Plan
The Corps of Engineers released its Fiscal Year 2025 Work Plan May 15, with funds allocated for Chickamauga, Montgomery and T.J. O’Brien Locks.
The Bayou Sorrel Study also received funding.
The Corps plan provides $200 million for inland waterways construction projects, of which nearly $50 million will come from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.
“The funding is significantly down from FY24’s record level funding of $456 million and is well below the capability expressed by the Corps for inland construction projects in FY25,” Waterways Council Inc. (WCI) noted in an email that went out later in the day.
Because regular appropriations were not enacted, the full-year Continuing Resolution, while based on FY24 levels, does not guarantee specific programs within the Corps’ Civil Works mission will receive funding in FY25, WCI added before urging Congress to pass a timely FY26 bill to ensure that ongoing projects continue without delay.
No money is included in the work plan for the Kentucky Lock Addition Project, which is under construction. The Nashville Engineer District noted in an August report to the Inland Waterways Users Board that efficient funding of $332 million would be needed in FY25 or $218 million for inefficient funding in FY25 along with an additional $114 million in FY26. The report indicated that to meet the 2029 operation date, additional funds would be needed in the second quarter of FY25.
Chickamauga Lock received $32.19 million, with funding to be used to continue work on the project.
The Upper River Ohio Navigation Project received $44 million to allow work to continue at Montgomery Lock.
The T.J. O’Brien Lock major rehabilitation in Chicago, Ill., received $122.9 million, with funds to be used to close out construction.
Additionally, $2.4 million was allocated to the Bayou Sorrel studyd for determining the feasibility of replacing the Bayou Sorrel Lock with a larger facility.
“While WCI was disappointed with the smaller funding levels for two inland construction projects, there was a possibility that $0 could have been allocated,” the WCI email said. “Funding for Bayou Sorrel is a major win in this Work Plan.”
The work plan also includes $172.7 million to complete the construction dredging contract to deepen the Port Arthur Canal and Taylor’s Bay Channel segments of the Sabine-Neches Waterway to 48 feet along with marsh improvements included in the Sabine-Neches Waterway Mitigation Plan.
It provides $33.4 million for the Houston Ship Channel to be used for construction management, oversight and site preparation for placement areas to support future dredging segments and project management.
