Commentary: Does ‘fudge factor’ make your harbor deeper?

   Have you noticed how some ports try to create the impression that new dredging projects will make their harbors deeper than the specified depth?
   I’m primarily thinking about Port Everglades in South Florida. The port is 42-feet deep and it recently got approval from the Army Corps of Engineers to take the bottom down to 48 feet. Port Everglades officials originally sought a 50-foot channel to handle next-generation containerships and large petroleum tankers. The Corps of Engineers was only prepared to dredge down five feet based on its benefit/cost analysis, but Broward County agreed to pay an extra $18 million to get an extra foot.
   Port officials, though, are not so subtle in suggesting that Everglades will be the equivalent of a 50-foot harbor, like its neighbor in Miami and other post-Panamax ports on the East Coast such as Norfolk and New York/New Jersey. Fifty feet of water is the magic number for attracting the largest containerships in service today on the busy Asia trade lanes. The expansion of the Panama Canal next year opens the door for larger vessels to call the East Coast, especially in the Southeast. Port authorities, engaged in fierce competition for container cargo, are showcasing their infrastructure capabilities and efficiency to get that business.
   In press releases, annual reports and conversations with reporters, officials like to point out that Port Everglades’ “effective depth” after deepening is completed will be 50 feet because the Corps requires an additional foot of excavation for margin of error and will allow another foot over the depth at the discretion of the dredging company, which is expected to take advantage of the allowance to make some more money.
   “From a sales perspective, 50 feet is a more attractive depth. That was our goal,” spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said.
   PortMiami is only 35 miles south of Fort Lauderdale and the ports are competing heavily for the South Florida market. Port Everglades has taken the lead as the largest container port in the state. During the fiscal year ended last Sept. 30, it handled 1 million TEUs. PortMiami moved 876,708 TEUs during the same period, although volumes are tracking higher so far this year. Corps contractors in August are expected to finish dredging Miami’s harbor to 50 feet. 
  Alluding to a 50-foot depth at Port Everglades is taking advantage of the “fudge factor” the Corps builds into the system to make sure the dredge job is done deep enough because it is difficult for construction crews to precisely dig out mud, rock and silt to within a few inches of the authorized depth. Deepening projects often are granted a two-foot buffer to account for inaccuracies in the dredge work and to compensate for silting between maintenance dredging cycles. Put another way, the dredging includes “advance maintenance,” so silt doesn’t make the excavated area shallower than authorized in a short period of time.
   Following Port Everglades’ logic would mean Miami could claim a 52-foot harbor.
   Jim Newsome, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Ports Authority, said ports should stick to stating the official depth granted by the Corps when describing their infrastructure.
   “The overcut of two feet is standard in both maintenance and deepening. It is just a safety factor that is done to assure the requisite depth is achieved and maintained throughout a dredging cycle,” Newsome said in an e-mail exchange. “If you cut the harbor to 54 feet you can be certain it will be maintained at 52 feet until the next time dredging is done. For consistency, ports should not report this as an authorized depth because it is not.
   “We are getting a 52-foot harbor but it will be overcut to 54 feet. Miami has a 50-foot harbor but will be overcut to 52 feet. Savannah is getting 47 feet overcut to 49 feet. I think if we all just report the authorized depth that the Corps approves at mean low water that is the most accurate. 
   “The real relevant question that should be asked is what draft of ship can you handle 24/7 and with how many hours on high tide?” he said.
   Newsome noted that the two-foot overcut no longer is automatic. It can be anywhere from zero to two feet depending on the type of dredge, the bottom material and other factors, and is not finally determined until the pre-construction engineering and design is completed.
   Port Everglades is a step ahead of the Port of Charleston in the harbor deepening race. A Corps review board several weeks ago approved the final feasibility and environmental impact study for deepening Charleston’s harbor from 45 feet to 52 feet in the main channel, and up to 54 feet at the entrance channel. The project would make Charleston the deepest port in the Southeast.
   The Corps subsequently released $1.3 million in federal funding for preconstruction engineering and design work. The design phase is expected to cost $4.5 million, split evenly between the federal and South Carolina governments. The new funding allows the South Carolina Ports Authority to execute a design agreement with the Corps so work can begin on project design and contract documents. Pre-construction tasks include ship simulation studies, refinement of cost estimates, coastal monitoring, and analysis of beneficial uses of dredge material.
   The federal agency is on track to issue its final endorsement and construction blueprint—known as the “Chief’s Report”—in September. 
   The report will be transmitted to Congress, which has final say on whether to appropriate money for the project, although South Carolina has set aside $300 million for its share of the $510 million project.

This commentary was published in the September 2015 issue of American Shipper.