Dredging

 (Map by US Army Corps of Engineers)

Nation’sPort was created in 1999 to promote deepening of the Harbor. Under its leadership, Port businesses, working with state and regional agencies convinced the Congress that a deeper channel was essential to the continued growth and operation of the Port. Funds were obtained from federal appropriations and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and work was begun in 2002.

Deepening the channels in the Port to 50 feet is progressing and is anticipated to be completed in 2012. Work on western two-thirds of the Kill Van Kull is complete and portions of the Ambrose, Anchorage, Newark Bay and Port Jersey Channels are now under construction.

The significant forward momentum of the deepening depends heavily on continued federal appropriations and the availability of upland placement sites for dredged material that cannot be placed in the ocean.

Port stakeholders including the Corps of Engineers, the Port Authority and the two states are working to help ensure the availability of sites and processing methodologies both for the new dredging and the long-term maintenance dredging that will be required in the future.