Historic number of dredgers busy on Post 45 Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, is moving ahead with the Charleston Harbor dredging program, with the main goal to deepen it to 52 feet.

Stretching across roughly 40 miles of open ocean and inner channels, the Charleston Harbor Post 45 Deepening Project has a historic number of dredgers working around-the-clock to complete the deepening work by the end of 2022.

The Charleston District has been working with the project’s non-federal sponsor, the South Carolina Ports Authority, since 2010 to complete studies and move the project toward a 52 foot deep federal channel.

The program is one of the first seven that President Obama’s Administration expedited under its “We Can’t Wait” initiative for critical infrastructure projects. 

In 2017, the District awarded the first construction contract for deepening a portion of the entrance channel to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (GLDD), LLC, for approximately $47 million. 

Also in 2017, they awarded the second contract to the same company to cover the remaining portion of the entrance channel deepening, with a current obligated value of $278 million. 

In August 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District awarded the third dredging construction contract of $124 million to Norfolk Dredging Co. This will create a 52-foot depth from the Lower Harbor up Wando River to Wando Welch Terminal.

Work also involves widening the turning basin of the Wando River from 1,400 feet to 1,650 feet, allowing two 14,000-TEU-and-above ships to easily pass one another and turn around near the Wando Welch Terminal without restrictions.

In September 2020, the District awarded the fourth and fifth dredging construction contracts.

The fourth contract of $53 million was awarded to Great Lakes Dredging Co. This will create a 52-foot depth from the Lower Harbor up the Cooper River to the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston, enabling 20,000-TEU vessels to access SC Ports’state-of-the-art container terminal.

The fifth and final contract of $32 million was awarded to Marinex Construction Inc. This will create a 48-foot depth from the Leatherman Terminal up the Cooper River to the North Charleston Terminal, which is slated for completion in 2022.

The estimated cost-share for the construction portion of the project will be $345.4 million for the federal government and $203.5 million for the SCPA, making the total project cost approximately $548.9 million. 

Post 45 is the first study to be completed in the Corps entirely under their new SMART Planning process, as part of the Corps’ Planning Modernization effort.

This enabled the Charleston District to complete the Feasibility Phase in four years for approximately $11 million after an original estimate of seven years and $20 million.

The Charleston District worked in close collaboration with state and federal partner agencies to complete the required studies and associated environmental reviews and permits. This has led Post 45 to become a model for future Civil Works projects around the Corps.

The Corps has maintained Charleston Harbor for more than 140 years and has dredged it every year during that time to ensure the channel is at the required federal project depth, spending approximately $10-15 million and removing 2-3 million cubic yards of maintenance material from the harbor floor each year.

Construction to deepen the harbor to the now federally authorized 45 foot depth began in 1999 and was completed in 2004.

Charleston Harbor has strategic national importance for military readiness, supporting Joint Base Charleston, and regionally the harbor deepening is of economic importance, allowing Post-Panamax vessels to call upon the harbor.