Port Manatee begins Berth 12 dredge project

Port Manatee begins Berth 12 dredge project    The Manatee County Port Authority in Florida approved a $2.1 million bid to start the first phase of Port Manatee's Berth 12 dredging project.
   The new 1,584-foot-long berth is designed to accommodate container shipping and is expected to be operational by early 2010. Berth 12 completes a $120 million port expansion project started in 1999, the port authority said.
   The first phase of the dredging project creates a permanent underground five-foot diameter tunnel to provide access for hydraulic pipelines used to deliver dredge material to a certified uplands spoil disposal site. The permanent features will be constructed under the CSX mainline at Port Manatee's front gate and under U.S. Interstate 41.
   Sarasota, Fla.-based Spectrum Underground won the contract, shaving $1.1 million from preliminary engineering estimates. 'This critical first step allows for swift completion of the main dredging project, with the base bid expected to be awarded by early fall 2009,' the port authority said.
   Last month, David L. McDonald, the port's executive director, signed a strategic alliance with the Panama Canal Authority to share information and participate in mutually beneficial marketing efforts between the two organizations. Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater port to the canal and is expected to benefit greatly from the canal's expansion, the port authority said.