US Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, has awarded a US$5,863,500 maintenance dredging contract for work in the Texas Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), Corpus Christi Ship Channel to Port Isabel in Nueces, Kleberg, Kennedy, Willacy, and Cameron counties, and for work at the entrance to the Port Isabel Small Boat Harbor in Cameron County. A contract was awarded to Orion Marine Group out of Port Lavaca, Texas.

The GIWW is an essential component of the nation`s navigation network extending for 1,109 miles from Appalachee Bay Florida to Port Isabel, Texas, an operations manager with USACE Galveston District’s Navigation Branch. “The GIWW is the third ranked inland waterway in the nation handling 126 million short tons of cargo. The 379 mile Texas portion of the GIWW handles more than 73 million short tons of cargo annually valued at US$42 billion. According to Jones, approximately 75 per cent of this cargo is classified as petroleum and petrochemical-related products.

Maintenance dredging in these navigation channels will remove approximately 1,250,000 cubic yards of material from the GIWW and will keep open this critical navigation channel that links the valley to all ports and businesses in Texas as well as and other states that are served by the GIWW. Work is scheduled to begin November 2015, with an anticipated completion date at the end of February 2016.