CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The widening and dredging of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel is a project that has been underway for over 30 years. Recently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Callan Marine, Ltd. the contract to finish out the project, which is expected to be finished in early 2025, making the ship channel the most improved waterway along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
When The Port of Corpus Christi opened in 1926, the Corpus Christi Ship Channel had been dredged to a depth of 25 feet and a width of 200 feet. After the $681.6 million project is complete the ship channel will have a new width of 530 feet and an increased depth of 54 feet.
“Our work and partnership with the Port of Corpus Christi – one of the largest ports in the U.S. – is vital to maintaining the economic engine of Texas and the nation,” Col. Rhett Blackmon, USACE Galveston District Commander said. “I’m especially proud that more than 90% of the new work dredged material in this contract is staying within the system, through our beneficial use program.”
Congress first authorized a study in 1990 to determine the feasibility of expanding the Corpus Christi Ship Channel by deepening and widening the waterway. By 2017 that project began the construction phase with its first phase complete in 2020 and second phase wrapping up in July of this year. Phase three is expected to conclude by the end of 2023, with completion of the fourth and final phase complete by early 2025.
“My fellow Port of Corpus Christi Commissioners and I are grateful to everyone who has advocated for this critical project over the past 30 years,” said Charles W. Zahn, Jr., Port of Corpus Christi Commission Chairman. “This truly is great progress, not only for the Port of Corpus Christi, but for the entire Coastal Bend region, because of the opportunities it will bring for future economic prosperity and growth.”
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