Corps of Engineers announces Mile Point ground
breaking
Jacksonville,
Fla. – More than 70 local, state and federal officials kicked off
construction at Helen Cooper Floyd Park in Jacksonville today, July 7, 2015,
during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Mile Point navigation project. The
project will help improve navigation on the St. Johns River, increasing
commerce efficiencies.
Florida Governor
Rick Scott spoke about the need to make JaxPort more competitive for current
and future shipping, which includes larger ships and transportation hubs.
“It’s more jobs
and it’s going to make JaxPort one of the more premier ports in the United
States,” he said. JaxPort is a primary
economic engine for northeast Florida, he said, and Florida ports are his top
investment priority.
“Years of hard
work led us to the Mile Point project – and to a larger project, which is to
make critical navigation improvements to the federal channel and Jacksonville
Harbor,” said Col. Alan Dodd, commander of Jacksonville
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He said
that by
moving out quickly, the
project will be completed in the fall of
2016, and the harbor deepening
project has the potential to immediately follow on its heels.
Florida
Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold said, "With the Panama
Canal expansion 90 percent complete, this project will greatly strengthen the
port’s ability to successfully compete for more post-Panamax ships in the
future.”
Located
near
Mayport, the Mile Point area has dangerous
crosscurrents at the convergence of the St. Johns River with the
Intracoastal Waterway. These currents are a hazard that slow traffic and prevent large ships
from navigating the river. The Mile
Point project is correcting that. The project combines relocation and reconfiguration
of an existing stone (training) wall, restoration of Great Marsh Island – increasing
marsh habitat by up to 34 acres more than the project mitigation requirement,
and creation of a flow improvement channel in Chicopit Bay.
The project is
funded in partnership with JaxPort, the local sponsor, and the state of Florida. The construction cost was advanced 100
percent under an advanced funds agreement.
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