Monday, August 25, 2014

PORT EVERGLADES TO DEEPEN PORT


PORT EVERGLADES TO DEEPEN PORT

Our close coverage of Florida’s port expansions continues with this article. One of the reasons for this is the belief that our economy will be very much positively affected by the widening of the Panama Canal. The area ports are responding to this and preparing for increased traffic and cargo. Right now Port Everglades is 42 feet deep, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just recommended that it be deepened to 47 feet to accommodate the increased traffic. Broward County sought a depth of 48 feet, and would need to pay for the extra foot. That would cost $18 million dollars. That that seems like a lot but when you see this math you can see why investing in this infrastructure makes sense. The Army Corps calculates that every $1 spent on the deepening project (total cost $370 million) the U.S. will make $2.7 dollars in return over the next 50 years. The conclusion was made that the extra foot of depth did not justify the added expense. It should be noted that Port Miami is dredging to 50 feet. So it is clear everyone is betting on this expansion and putting up millions of dollars in pursuit of more growth. I think it is all going to pay off and that this will be lasting growth. Florida is uniquely positioned between Central America (where it seems like most of the fruit and seafood are coming from lately) and the rest of the U.S. and it is a natural stop for sea based traffic. If we can improve our rail service this could only assist the growth to come. Very exciting stuff and we will be following it closely. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Broward to dig deeper at Port


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