Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Florida – Corps achieves Lake Worth Inlet milestone

This article highlights the improvements that have just been green-lighted for the expansion of the Palm Beach Harbor at the Port of Palm Beach. They will be using an expedited design process to speed the project toward implementation. Click title for link. Here is a list of some of what will go on:
Palm Beach Harbor has not had any federal improvements in more than 50 years, resulting in a channel that’s insufficient for today’s existing vessel fleet.
The recommended plan deepens the existing 33-foot project depth to 41-feet in the entrance channel, 39-feet in the inner channel and main turning basin, and widens the existing footprint in certain places. An advance maintenance plan with jetty stabilization and settling basin expansion is also part of the recommended plan.
“The plan allows vessels to accommodate more tonnage per trip, eliminating the need to do vessel light-loading and incurred tidal delays, which historically results in higher transportation costs,” Reichold said. “The improved advance maintenance plan will decrease O&M (operations and maintenance) events, saving the federal government approximately $850,000 annually,” she added.