Seattle gets OK for 57 feet

Harbor-deepening project receives Army Corps approval.    A proposal to deepen the channels leading to the container terminals in the Port of Seattle to 57 feet is now eligible for congressional authorization, say officials from the port and Army Corps of Engineers.
    That is a result of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commanding General Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite signing a Chief of Engineers Report on Thursday for what is known as the Seattle Harbor Navigation Improvement Project.
    In addition to congressional authorization, funds for the project also would have to be appropriated.
   Waterways leading to Seattle’s container terminals near where the Duwamish Waterway empties into Elliott Bay currently range in depth from 34 to 51 feet below mean lower low water.
    Brian Nelson, the Corps project manager, said, “Some of these shallower spots present navigational and safety challenges. Authorizing deepening the channels removes these challenges and ensures the port can accommodate future generations of container ships.”
    Courtney Gregoire, the president of the Port of Seattle Commission, said, “This project will make the Port of Seattle the deepest container port in the nation.”
    The project would deepen the port’s East Waterway where Terminals 46 (operated by Total Terminals International) and Terminals 30 and 18 (operated by SSA) are located. It also would deepen the West Waterway where Terminal 5(T-5) is located.
     Terminal 5 currently is not being used for container handling, and Gregoire said, “This is another step forward to making T-5 big ship ready and able to handle the largest cargo vessels in the world.”
    The Port of Seattle is the non-federal project sponsor that worked with the Corps to complete the feasibility study that began in 2014.
    Following authorization, the Corps and Port of Seattle will engage in a detailed design phase prior to project construction.
    The cost of deepening the waterways is estimated at about $60 million, with about $29 million coming from the federal government and about $31 million from the port.
    The Corps on Tuesday also delivered to Congress its fiscal year 2018 work plan that included funding to initiate a feasibility study for a deepening project at the Port of Tacoma.
    Cargo facilities at both ports are operated by the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), a partnership between the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma.
    Bari Bookout, director of marketing and business services at the NWSA, said even ships in the 10,000- to 11,000-TEU range may have difficulty calling the terminals in Seattle when fully laden with export commodities.
    The port, she noted, is a major gateway for U.S. exports, including agricultural products. Those sorts of commodities tend to be much heavier than, for example, inbound containers arriving from Asia filled with consumer goods.
    The deeper water will give carriers greater flexibility since ships will not have to wait for high tides to arrive or depart. Tides in Elliot Bay can vary by 12 feet.
    Bookout said it is expected the project will take about two dredging seasons to complete. Work has to be done from about July to February so as not to interfere with the migration of salmon in the Duwamish, which leads to the Green River.