A $238-million effort to deepen the lower Mississippi River ship channel to allow ships a 50-ft draft passed a key milestone last month as ships began using a new 48-ft draft standard. This change in the “controlling draft” of the river is the first since that standard was set at 47 ft in the 1980s.

Dredging operations launched by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 2020 have succeeded in lowering the first 172 miles of the Mississippi River Ship Channel to a minimum depth of 53 ft, so ships with a 50-ft draft can safely navigate the waterway up to the Port of South Louisiana.

12月，下河上的三个试点协会增加了48英尺和船舶的最高建议草案，并在此后不久开始使用新标准。试点关联将继续通过单脚增量降低最大稿，直到达到50英尺的目标。

“The pilots are actively reviewing all data, including channel surveys, because decisions to advance a 50-ft channel are a top priority,” says Sean Duffy, executive director of the Big River Coalition.

The project is a cooperative effort undertaken by the USACE, the state of Louisiana and the Port of New Orleans. When fully completed it will allow passage using the 50-ft standard on the lowest 256-mile stretch of the river from the Gulf of Mexico to Baton Rouge. This project will provide deep-draft access for four major ports: The Plaquemines Port, Harbor and Terminal District, the Port of New Orleans, the Port of South Louisiana and the Port of Baton Rouge.

The new draft standard will permit larger “Post Panamax” shipping vessels to utilize the waterway and access the ports on the lower river. In 2018, the USACE estimated that the boost to trade would result in an average boost to the national economy of $127.5 million a year.

The deepening project was launched in September 2020. The $110 million first phase involved lowering the ship channel depth from 45 ft to 50 ft from the Gulf of Mexico through Southwest Pass to Belmont Crossing. Material dredged from the first 30 miles of the project near the mouth of the Mississippi River are being reused to restore approximately 1,462 acres of marsh habitat. This work was completed in May last year.

10月份，通过最低十分之一的四分之一的四分之一到50英尺到50英尺，完成了4750万美元第二阶段的工作。在这一点上面的五个额外的交叉路口仍然被疏浚 - 工作中的工作预计将在今年年底完成。对于初始阶段，联邦基金占剩下的成本和非联邦来源的75％，新奥尔良的贸易经理Jessica Ragusa表示。

Although the lowest 172 miles of the ship channel were dredged to the proper depth, the new draft standards for pilots using the waterway were delayed due to the difficulty of identifying the location of four pipelines: two at Venice Corridor and two at Mile 158. While these pipelines are all below the riverbed, their precise depth must be ascertained to ensure safe passage in the ship channel, Duffy explains.

usace.completed the initial surveys in early December and subsequently made recommendations for the new standard draft depth to the three pilot associations on the lower river: The New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association, Associated Branch of Pilots of the Port of New Orleans and the Crescent River Port Pilots Association (CRPPA).

“We are working to confirm depths of utility crossings at Venice and work with the pilots’ associations to establish the 50 ft draft,” says Ricky D. Boyett, Jr., chief of public affairs for USACE New Orleans. “The USACE Engineers Research and Development Center deployed survey technology to the area this month to support this effort.”

The final phase of the project will involve relocating or deepening up to six utility pipelines in the remaining 30 miles to Baton Rouge. Boyett says this work is slated to begin in June 2023. Currently, the maximum draft for section of the ship channel remains set at the original 47 ft standard. This work is estimated to cost $80.2 million, split 50-50 by the pipeline owners and other nonfederal funds.

The work on the lower river comes as efforts are underway to improving the navigation channel much further north. USACE has begun planning for navigational improvements on the critical waterway. In January, the Corps announced that $732 million of the approximately $14 billion it was allocated from the federal infrastructure bill would be directed to expanding the lock and dam system on the river.

该兵团将使用资金来完成在Winfield，Mo.的上层密西西比河上的锁和水坝25的替代品的设计和建造。完成后，锁将允许双向流量并允许更大血管通过。当前锁在1939年开放，具有600英尺的腔室。新的计划锁将是两个长度的两倍，允许通过15驳船散布。官员表示，该项目将需要五到七年才能完成。