JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District awarded a $47,901,600 contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Docks Company for the Tampa Harbor Big Bend Navigation Improvement Project. The contract award is for the base contract, with opportunity to award Options A and B at a later date.
The project is designed to safely accommodate existing and prospective vessels that navigate Tampa Harbor. The overall project will deepen the entrance channel, east channel, inner channel, turning basin, and local service facilities at Big Bend from 34 to 43 feet. It will widen the entrance channel from 200 to 250 feet for a length of 1.9 miles. It will deepen the existing turning basin to 43 feet, and expand the existing turning basin to 1,200 feet. An estimated 4 million cubic yards of material will be placed upland in Dredge Material Disposal Area 3-D.
Construction for the base portion of the contract, which includes the entrance channel and turning basin, is expected to begin in October and will last for approximately 11 months.
Tampa Port Authority is Florida’s largest seaport by tonnage (37 million tons annually) and by land area (5,000 acres). The port is also Florida’s most diverse seaport, handling an array of liquid and dry bulk, petroleum products, and container cargo. It also accommodates nearly 900,000 cruise passengers each year.
In addition, the port provides fuel for Tampa & Orlando International Airports & MacDill Air Force Base. Nearly 40 percent of all fuel moving through Florida ports moves through Tampa Bay.
Project updates will be available at www.saj.usace.army.mil and our social media pages – facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict and twitter.com/JaxStrong.
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Release no. 18-071