Houston to pay $2.7 million for dredging

Houston to pay $2.7 million for dredging    Port of Houston Authority commissioners on Tuesday authorized additional payments of up to $2.7 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for maintenance dredging the turning basin and berths at the Barbours Cut container terminal.
   At the board's monthly meeting, Chief Executive Officer Alec Dreyer reported that container volume dropped 14 percent in April versus a year earlier as a result of fewer vessel arrivals. Total ship arrivals year-to-date are down 1 percent from 2009. The port said barge traffic increased 44 percent in April and 21 percent for the first four months of the year.
   Steel traffic declined 4 percent in April, but was the strongest (more than 200,000 tons) since April 2009. Port staff anticipate steel throughput during the second half of the year to be much higher than last year's second half, according to a news release from the port.
   Commissioners also awarded a $59,473 contract to Mobilisa Inc. for the acquisition of four hand-held Transportation Worker Identification Credential readers. Workers and others are required to have TWIC cards to access secure areas of the port. The port authority plans to use port security grant funds awarded by the Department of Homeland Security under last year's stimulus initiative to pay for the card readers.
   Morpho Detection/Safran Group received a $344,000 contract for three explosives and narcotics trace detectors and three chemical identification units, which will also be funded with port security grants.