Army Corps of Engineers Authorizes Final Funding for Completing Delaware River Deepening Project

Philadelphia, May 30, 2017 –

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their Fiscal Year 2017 Work Plan which allocated $29.25 million towards to the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project. That money, combined with the $33 million that Congress approved earlier in the month, represents the final federal appropriations to complete the deepening of the Delaware River navigation channel to 45-feet. The Delaware River Channel Deepening Project is a 103-mile-long $392 million project. This federal project is funded by both federal and local sources. The Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) is the local sponsor of the project and the signatory of the Project Cooperation Agreement known as the PCA. Pennsylvania has spent $137 million to ensure this economic engine keeps up with competing ports in the Mid-Atlantic.

This is the final piece of funding that ensures that the Delaware River will be deepened to 45-feet by December 2017. Additional work to complete the project will continue through 2018. “This news comes at the perfect time,” said Jeff Theobald PhilaPort’s CEO, “the completion of the channel deepening in conjunction with Governor Wolf’s $300 million investment towards improving landside infrastructure, will enable our Packer Avenue Marine Terminal to be the first terminal on the river to accept the larger vessels!”

“The bipartisan work done by our congressional delegation to get the federal funds released cannot be overstated” said PhilaPort Chairman Jerry Sweeney. “We have been fortunate to have two great champions in Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Bob Brady who zealously led the fight for annual project funding and kept the project alive in the face of fierce opposition. Together, with Congressman Pat Meehan and Senator Pat Toomey, their united and steadfast support and assistance were keys to making this project a reality.”

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The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, commonly known as PhilaPort, and referred to as The Port of Philadelphia, is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district. PhilaPort works with its terminal operators to improve its facilities and to market those facilities to prospective port users around the world. Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.