JOC Staff | Oct 16, 2012 4:06PM EDT
The contracting phase of Miami-Dade County’s “Deep Dredge” project to deepen PortMiami’s channel to minus 50 feet was kicked off Oct. 15 with the solicitation of bids by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Construction to deepen the channel is scheduled to begin in early 2013 and is slated to be completed by early 2015. It will be one of three U.S. Atlantic ports to be at the required 50-foot level, in conjunction with the completion of the Panama Canal expansion project, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said.
The deeper channel will enable the port to double its cargo traffic over the next several years, PortMiami Director Bill Johnson said.