Page 31: of Marine News Magazine (January 2025)

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Feature

Domestic Dredging

Doyle, is simply huge. “The total awards amounted to The then, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama nearly $2.1 Billion – a 39% increase from FY22; 20% shepherded $274,300,000 in appropriations for the Port above the seven-year average of $1.7 Billion; with FY23 of Mobile. That funding accounts for the full federal share capturing highest award year on record.” for the construction of the deepening and widening of the

Competition, nevertheless, and in times of robust de- Mobile’s navigation channel. In addition, $85.35 million mand, remains ? erce. That’s because the industry low bid, was allocated in the FY20 work plan to initiate construc- compared to the Government Estimate (GE) and Govern- tion of deepening the Mississippi River Ship Channel, Gulf ment Estimated Awardable Range (GEAR) provides ample to Baton Rouge (Louisiana) to 50 feet. The Gulf Coast is proof of that metric. For example, 135 of 163 projects have well represented in Congress this time around. Not to be left available industry bid/GE comparisons and were not sole- aside, Trump and Congress also set aside substantial funding sourced, while 85 of 135 had a winning bid lower than the for dredging projects in Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; New

GE; and 126 of the 135 (93%) had a winning bid lower York and New Jersey; and Oakland Harbor, CA. Doyle adds than the GEAR. Of the 85 projects where industry was enthusiastically, “I think this time around will be more of lower than the base GE, 63 projects were cheaper by more the same, a continued focus on new construction projects, than 10%; 32 projects by more than 25%; 11 by more maintenance dredging and beach renourishment.” than 40%; and 4 by more than 50%. The savings to US taxpayers exceeds $700 million and equates to an average Dredging: on the cutting edge … savings of 35% per project when compared to the GEAR. Probably the last way you might ever expect someone to describe dredging is in terms of “high tech,” “environmen-

Dredging Locally; Thinking Nationally tally clean,” and/or “innovative.” But that’s exactly what is

There is a saying that all politics are local, but when it comes to dredging, the outlook typically depends heavily on what’s happening inside the Beltway. But unlike many other aspects of American life and policy-driven decisions, over time, the benign neglect of the U.S. waterfront has been a bipartisan event. That seems to be changing, of late.

Nevertheless, the question of what will change on January 20th, and what will not, is on the minds of most water- front stakeholders. Bill Doyle, for one, is not worried.

“The new Trump Administration will continue to sup- port ports, infrastructure and jobs. President Trump will have republican majority in the House and Senate when he enters of? ce on January 20, 2025. That said; dredging is bipartisan. The ? rst Trump Administration was very cre- ative in how it handled dredging.”

Doyle illustrates that reality by reminding us that, for instance, Trump signed the FY2020 Energy and Water De- velopment appropriations bill into law as part of H.R.1865 and included the ? rst regional dredge demonstration pro- gram for the central Gulf Coast. This program was cre- ated to explore innovative ways of executing dredging in a logical and sequenced manner to seek ef? ciencies and cost savings and minimize disruptions to critical construction and maintenance dredging requirements across the nation.

Curtin Maritime www.marinelink.com MN 31|