USACE approves $131M for the Houston Ship Channel works

Port Houston is about to receive $131 million in federal funding to advance the Houston Ship Channel construction and maintenance.

On Tuesday, May 20, the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met for its regular monthly meeting.

Chairman Ric Campo opened the meeting with an update that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their FY25 workplan, which includes $33 million allocated to the Houston Ship Channel Expansion, known as Project 11, construction and $98 million to operations and maintenance to keep the Houston Ship Channel dredged.

According to the Port, USACE has approved the federal Assumption of Maintenance (AOM) for Segment 1B of the Houston Ship Channel (Redfish Reef to Bayport Terminal), in addition to Segment 1C (Bayport to Barbours Cut Ship Channel), which was approved in 2022.

This marks the successful conclusion of a nearly five-year group effort and with these approvals Port Houston will save a net present value of nearly $380 million over the next 50 years.

The organization is on track to complete the dredging activities in Segment 1C by late Q2/early Q3 2025, completing the Port Houston-led portions of Project 11 dredging. Completion of Galveston Bay beneficial use features is scheduled for Q4 2025.