SoCal ports to receive dredge funds from feds

SoCal ports to receive dredge funds from feds While some critics may lambaste the recently signed federal $555 billion Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations legislation for its more than 9,000 earmarks and special interest projects, the Southern California ports are smiling all the way to the bank.
   The neighboring ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are both set to receive sizable amounts from the bill to provide for harbor dredging in and around the two ports' facilities.
   Unlike other ports, Long Beach or Los Angeles only face very minor silting problems due to the minimal amount of runoff from local waterways and storm drains. Both ports face some minor shoaling problems, though these are typically limited to areas immediately adjacent to pierhead lines and corrected through infrequent maintenance dredging as needed.
   Maintenance of the main channels, most of the secondary channels and most of the turning basins within the two ports are coordinated through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
   The Port of Los Angeles, in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers, recently completed a multi-year dredging and deepening project to deepen several of its secondary channels and turning basins. The new appropriations will provide the port with $3.3 million to dredge near the mouth of the Los Angeles River that outflows into the northernmost end of the port's East Basin Channel. Due to the low amount of seasonal runoff from the river, this maintenance is typically only required every three to five years. However, it has not been performed in the past seven years.
   The Port of Long Beach will receive $3.5 million in new appropriations to dredge and widen its main channel, already one of the deepest in the United States at -76 feet.