Corps work plan includes $131M for Houston Ship Channel

Port Houston Bayport Container Terminal along the Houston Ship Channel. [Photo: Port Houston]

At the May 20 meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority, chairman Ric Campo reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) FY 2025 work plan includes $33 million allocated to the Houston Ship Channel Expansion, known as Project 11, construction and $98 million to operations and maintenance to keep the Houston Ship Channel dredged.

“Thank you to everyone who pulled together to get this done, including our industry partners, customers, congressional delegation, and specifically Congressman Wesley Hunt and Congressman Brian Babin who worked around the clock to make sure we got what we needed,” said Campo.

Port Houston reported strong volumes in April, but operations reported nine blank sailings forecasted over the next six weeks at the container terminals. Despite this, Port Houston remains cautiously optimistic, noting that the number is significantly lower than during previous periods of market uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting also learned that the USACE approved the federal Assumption of Maintenance (AOM) for Segment 1B of the Houston Ship Channel (Redfish Reef to Bayport Terminal), in addition to Segment 1C (Bayport to Barbours Cut Ship Channel), which was approved in 2022. This marks the successful conclusion of a nearly five-year group effort and with these approvals Port Houston will save a net present value of nearly $380 million over the next 50 years. The organization is on track to complete the dredging activities in Segment 1C by late Q2/early Q3 2025, completing the Port Houston-led portions of Project 11 dredging. Completion of Galveston Bay beneficial use features is schedule