NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY PORT APPROVES 50-FOOT CHANNELS BY 2009

NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY PORT APPROVES 50-FOOT CHANNELS BY 2009    The New York and New Jersey Port Authority board on Thursday authorized the dredging of the port’s shipping channels to 50 feet, sooner than originally planned and at lower cost.
   The board voted to consolidate and accelerate existing harbor dredging projects, resulting in the completion of 50-foot channels in New York’s harbor by 2009, seven years ahead of previous plans.
   The 50-foot project is expected to cost about $2.3 billion, a savings of $800 million over original costs estimates. The port authority will pay $1 billion, with the remainder coming from federal funds.
   The savings comes from several sources, including drilling and blasting the channel to 50 feet once, rather than incremental dredging, said Richard M. Larrabee, director of port commerce for the port authority.
   A deeper harbor is necessary to handle the new generation of cargo ships that can handle more than 6,000 TEUs, the port authority said.