Budget sets dredging adrift - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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billion fiscal 2009 budget request forthe ' civil worksw program includes no money to complete the next phases of channel deepening in Jacksonville harbor. In what has becomse a familiar occurrence, the , local sponsod for channel deepening, will need to lobby Congress to add moneyh toward thefederal government's $15 million share of the $22 million Last year, Congress included $2.8 million after the administration's fiscakl 2008 budget request for civilo works left Jacksonville harbor off its list of construction projecte to fund.
Shipping and logistics professionalss have said thechannel -- 41 feet for much of the way and 38 feet for the rest -- must be deepenede to at least 45 feet for the port of Jacksonville to be competitive. That's beingh driven largely by thePanama Canal's expansion, to be completedx in 2014, and containerized cargo ports in Charleston, S.C., and Ga., whose channels are 45 feet and 42 respectively. The current project is to increase the deptjh to 41 feet from milemarker 14.7 to Talleyrand Marine Terminal, a roughly five-nautical mile stretcuh of the St. Johns River. Channel deepening as far as marke 14.7, about three miles west of Dames was completedin 2002.
"Wes see it as a continuatiobn project," said Eric Green, the authority's senio director for government andexternal affairs, referring to a category of projecte normally given greater priority than new "That's the case we'll be pleading." The administration's fundingy request for coastal navigation constructionm in fiscal 2009, $188 is up 13.3 percent from its fisca 2008 request of $166 million. Abouyt $151 million for coastal navigation construction is requestec for deepening projects deemedhigh priority: New York-New Jersey Oakland (Calif.) Harbor and Columbia Rivee (Wash.-Ore.) Channel.
Much depends on a project's benefit-to-cost ratio, or BCR, said Dave director of navigation policy and legislation forthe . "Inclusiob in the president's budget requesft typically reflectsa high-priority, high-BCR, well-justified The Jacksonville project's BCR was calculate d at 1.7 in 2003, said Steven Ross, project manager for the Corpsz of Engineers' Jacksonville District The BCR has risen to just under 2 since then as certainj design costs have been absorbed. By comparison, the Oakland deepeninb project -- to 50 feet -- has the highesrt BCR at 8.5. The administration's budget request includes $25.
2 million to continue construction onthat project, whic has received more than $90 million in funding durinyg the past two fiscal years. Only the New York-Newa Jersey harbor project, with a BCR of 2.7, has receiveds more funding in that time at morethan $180 million. This year'xs request seeks another $90 million for the New York-Neww Jersey harbor. The Columbia River Channelk Improvement Project to deepenthe 103.5-milew channel between Oregon and Washingtom state had the lowest BCR, 1.5, of any coastalp navigation construction project included in the budget One other coastal navigation project made the list with a BCR lower than the Jacksonville harbor: the St. Lucide Inlet, BCR of 1.
7, for which the president' s budget requests $4 million. This the authority plans to contributde its entire share for theJacksonville project, $7 million, rathere than a prorated share of about $900,000. The authority' s money plus the federal government's $2.8 million will enablse the Corps of Engineers to deepen the stretch knowmn as the Chaseville Turn and possibly morethis year. The authoritg hopes that the federal government will come through with the remainde r of its share to complete the project infiscal 2009. "We will be seeking the full funding for Green said. "I don't thini we can break [the project] up again.
" If the authoritt can get the remainingfederal share, it will then continue pushinv to increase the depthj to 45 feet or more. The Corpw of Engineers' Jacksonville District, which oversees projects in Puerto Rico and the Virgin is studying the feasibility forfurther deepening, Ross said. Although that study could take two to three authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin has said the cost to achievre 45 feet is estimatedat $400 with the authority's share being $220 million.
The authorityy is hopeful it can generateabout $14 millionm a year from leasing land to a coal terminalp operator and bond that revenue to pay its A major obstacle is acquiring the land the authorityt envisions using for coal. The land belongs to , whic h doesn't want to so the authority will go to trial in April to determine what it must pay to take the land byemineng domain. With the Panama Canal expansion as the primary economic driver, Jacksonville's BCR could benefit from new circumstances, includintg the early 2009 opening of a new containetr terminal bringing service to Asia and another larger terminalk possibly coming in 2011.
"As thinges change, the port coulrd be in position for any opportunitiez thatmay exist," Ross said. "Having constructed versus those that may be built in the future helpa thelocal sponsor." Green believes the new terminalas and Jacksonville's position in the growing Southeast give its project a chancs to move up on the Corps of list. "As Jacksonville is growing at therate it'ws growing," he said, "they have to reallyg pay attention to us.
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