休斯顿港（Port Houston）正在推进计划，计划将休斯顿船舶频道从墨西哥湾和加尔维斯顿湾（Galveston Bay）扩展。该公司于11月22日宣布，港口委员会签署了一份9,250万美元的合同，作为该渠道扩大和改进项目11的第一阶段，从事疏edge工作的合同。

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will dredge 11.5 miles of the channel to widen a portion of the bay from 530 ft to 700 ft, the company says. It will pump 1.6 million cu yd of dredged material to construct a new island for a bird habitat and oyster reef.

The port has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a joint venture of AECOM and Gahagan & Bryant Associates to develop plans to make the 52-mile channel wider and deeper as part of the expansion project to accommodate larger container and petrochemical ships.

Port Houston is the busiest U.S. port in terms of waterborne tonnage. It says the Houston Ship Channel has an impact on 3.2 million jobs and $801.9 billion in annual economic value, with nearly 20,000 ship movements and 200,000 barge transits each year.

在当前通道宽度的情况下，船只必须执行一个称为“德克萨斯鸡”的机动 - 当两个船只朝相反方向移动时，依靠流体动力来安全地通过。

In later phases, more than 24 miles of the channel will be widened to 700 ft. The Bayport and Barbours Cut channels will be widened to about 455 ft. Several upstream bayous will also be widened and deepened.

The project will also include additional environmental initiatives, including construction of five bird islands totaling 20 acres in Galveston Bay, the addition of 376 acres of oyster reef pads and three new marshes built totaling as much as 800 acres.

环境问题在为这份合同选择大湖挖泥机和码头方面发挥了作用。该港口说，当它选择大湖挖泥机和码头时，它选择了该方法，总体氮排放量最大。承包商首席运营官David Simonelli在一份声明中说，该公司将通过升级工程和安装选择性催化减少系统（处理发动机排气器的选择性催化减少系统），投资450万美元从其切割机吸气挖泥机和助推站减少排放。

“Retrofitting our equipment demonstrates our commitment to Port of Houston and supports our goal of reducing our overall environmental impact as we strive to leave the areas we work in a better state than when we started,” Simonelli said.

Dredging on the first phase of work is scheduled to start in early 2022 and finish within the year. AECOM says the entire project is expected to finish by the end of 2025.

大湖挖泥机和码头合同是在该公司于2020年10月将公司总部从芝加哥地区转移到休斯敦的。

The Houston Ship Channel first opened in 1914. Its previous expansion project lasted from 1968 to 2005. The channel was deepened to 45 ft and made 530 ft wide through Galveston Bay, and environmental restoration projects were constructed with dredged material.