Redwood City port completes first phase of dredging

The Port of Redwood City in Northern California said it has completed the first phase of maintenance dredging on its harbor channel this week.    The Port of Redwood City in Northern California said it has completed the first phase of maintenance dredging on his harbor channel this week.
   The channel’s depth was lowered to 28 feet. The dredging cost $12.8 million and was completed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
   The next stage of the dredging project will restore the channel to the authorized depth of 30 feet. The work is expected to occur in mid-2015.
   The last time the Redwood City port channel was dredged to its authorized depth was December 2009. Since areas of the channel had silted in, vessels calling the port faced a navigation draft of 22 feet.
   “Increasing the depth of the channel by six feet will mean that the cargo-carrying capacity of the ships calling at the port will increase 10,000 to 12,000 tons per ship,” said Executive Director Michael Giari in a statement.
   Redwood City’s tonnage has been steadily increasing since 2009 and last year reached 1.8 million metric tons. The majority of the cargo is construction materials to supply construction projects in the Redwood City area and Silicon Valley, the port authority said.