Budget sets dredging adrift - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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billion fiscal 2009 budgeft request forthe ' civil works program includes no moneg to complete the next phases of channel deepening in Jacksonville In what has become a familiar the , local sponsor for channeo deepening, will need to lobby Congresxs to add money toward the federal government's $15 million share of the $22 millioj project. Last year, Congress includeds $2.8 million after the administration'ws fiscal 2008 budget request for civil works left Jacksonvilled harbor off its list of construction projecteto fund.
Shipping and logistica professionals have said thechannel -- 41 feet for much of the way and 38 feet for the rest -- must be deepenee to at least 45 feet for the port of Jacksonvillse to be competitive. That's bein driven largely by the Panamas Canal's expansion, to be completed in and containerized cargo portsin Charleston, S.C., and Ga., whose channels are 45 feet and 42 respectively. The current projecf is to increase the dept h to 41 feet from milemarker 14.7 to Talleyran Marine Terminal, a roughly five-nautical mile stretch of the St. Johns River. Channel deepenin as far as marker 14.7, about three milesa west of Dames Point, was completed in 2002.
"Wes see it as a continuation project," said Eric the authority's senior director for government andexterna affairs, referring to a categoryh of projects normally given greater priorityt than new projects. "That's the case we'll be pleading." The administration's funding requesr for coastal navigation construction infiscal $188 million, is up 13.3 percent from its fiscal 2008 request of $166 million. Abourt $151 million for coastal navigationm construction is requested for deepening projectse deemedhigh priority: New York-New Jersey Oakland (Calif.) Harbor and Columbia River (Wash.-Ore.) Channel.
Much dependsd on a project's benefit-to-cost ratio, or BCR, said Dave director of navigation policy and legislation forthe . "Inclusioj in the president's budget request typically reflectsa high-BCR, well-justified project." The Jacksonville project's BCR was calculated at 1.7 in 2003, said Stevebn Ross, project manager for the Corps of Engineers' Jacksonvill e District office. The BCR has risen to just under 2 since then as certain design costs have been By comparison, the Oakland deepeningh project -- to 50 feet -- has the highesy BCR at 8.5. The administration's budgey request includes $25.
1 million to continue constructiojn onthat project, which has receivexd more than $90 millionn in funding during the past two fisca years. Only the New York-New Jerseyg harbor project, with a BCR of 2.7, has received more funding in that time at morethan $180 This year's request seeks another $90 million for the New York-Neaw Jersey harbor. The Columbia River Channel Improvement Project to deepen the 103.5-mile channel betweenh Oregon and Washington state had the lowestg BCR, 1.5, of any coasta l navigation construction project included in the budge t request. One other coastal navigation projecgt made the list with a BCR lower than theJacksonvilld harbor: the St. Lucie Inlet, BCR of 1.
7, for whichu the president's budget requests $4 million. This the authority plans to contribute its entir e share for theJacksonvilled project, $7 million, rather than a prorated sharre of about $900,000. The authority's monehy plus the federal government's $2.8 million will enable the Corps of Engineers to deepen the stretcyh known as the Chaseville Turn and possiblhy morethis year. The authority hopes that the federalp government will come through with the remainder of its sharse to complete the project infiscal 2009. "We will be seekinhg the full fundingfor that," Green "I don't think we can break [the up again.
" If the authority can get the remaining federalk share, it will then continue pushing to increase the deptuh to 45 feet or more. The Corps of Jacksonville District, which oversees projects in Puerto Rico and theVirgibn Islands, is studying the feasibilityh for further deepening, Ross said. Although that studg could take two tothree years, authority Executivre Director Rick Ferrin has said the cost to achieve 45 feet is estimated at $400 million, with the authority'e share being $220 million. The authorithy is hopeful it can generateabout $14 million a year from leasinvg land to a coal terminal operator and bond that revenur to pay its share.
A majore obstacle is acquiring the land the authority envisions usingfor coal. The land belongz to , which doesn't want to so the authority will go to triap in April to determine what it must pay to take the land byeminentg domain. With the Panama Canal expansion as the primareconomic driver, Jacksonville's BCR coulx benefit from new circumstances, includintg the early 2009 openinf of a new container terminal bringing servic to Asia and another larget terminal possibly coming in 2011.
"Aws things change, the port could be in positionn for any opportunities thatmay exist," Ross "Having 'benefits' constructed versus those that may be built in the future helps the localk sponsor." Green believes the new terminals and Jacksonville's position in the growing Southeast give its projec t a chance to move up on the Corps of list. "As Jacksonville is growing at therate it'se growing," he said, "they have to really pay attentioh to us.
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