Benefits include larger vessel access, more efficient use of existing vessels, reductions of congestion, lower cargo handling, and less tug assist costs for commodities, and more efficient use of waterway transportation.

Specifically, a deeper harbor would mean that Post-Panamax size container vessels would have the opportunity to load more cargo per voyage and would thus be able to move the same tonnage each year with fewer annual voyages. Each voyage that is reduced on an annual basis equates to transportation costs savings, reduced fossil fuel consumption, and associated emissions.

With a deeper/wider harbor, tidal delays could potentially be reduced. Currently, in Miami Harbor specific vessels, referred to as Special Class vessels, cannot transit during tidal flood current or at night. Flood currents are generated when water pushes inland on the approach to high tide and ebb currents are generated when water pushes offshore on the approach to low tide. The Biscayne Bay Pilots Association (BBPA) have rules in place Harbor referenced at http://bbpilots.com/maxdimmensions.pdf. Daylight only transit and other flood current restrictions also apply on departure can be referenced at http://bbpilots.com/tugEnvRequirements.pdf.  Because vessels must transit around these restrictions, transportation inefficiencies occur in the form of delays.

No.  The impact assessment drives the functional assessment which determines the “loss” incurred by the project.  That loss will be then translated into a “need” or amount of compensatory mitigation necessary to offset the loss.  It also directs the geographic area for surveying and monitoring to occur.  It may influence the adaptive management plan, especially if instrumentation is utilized.  The impact assessment is very important to cost, but it also is vital for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to disclose and discuss the impacts to the human environment.  It will also be critical for compliance with Endangered Species Act (ESA), Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), and the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).

The Corps will work with the pertinent regulatory agencies to conduct the necessary existing condition evaluations and assess direct and indirect effects for the proposed project.  We propose to utilize all existing information while considering options for supplementing the overall dataset to provide an appropriate depiction of the project area.  The area or amount of direct and indirect impacts will be considered during the alternatives review and the selection of the preferred alternative.  We will consider the lessons learned from the previous Miami Harbor project and new measures to avoid and/or minimize potential impacts to resources.

A feasibility study is conducted over a 36 month period of time, starting with signing of the Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement (FCSA) and ending with a Chief of Engineer's Report. The total study cost is limited to $3 million, so the Non-Federal cost share is limited to $1.5 million.

Corps, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FLDEP), Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC), US Fish & Wildlife (USFW)  and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) staff have agreed to attend a Corps hosted monthly environmental interagency check-in meeting in an effort to enhance communication, address developing issues, and solve potential problems during the feasibility study. The Corps will consider lessons learned from the previous Miami Harbor project along with new strategies to comply with Federal/State laws and regulations. In addition, the Corps is also reviewing recently collected data and published reports to help focus the monitoring plan to Miami Harbor’s current conditions.  Working with the regulatory agencies, the Corps will ensure that the monitoring plan provides the data necessary to determine project effects including type, degree, duration, and distance from the channel.

The Mitigation Plan will be crafted using existing mitigation opportunities along with consideration of new and developing practices which may compensate for anticipated project effects.   The amount of mitigation required will be determined by processing the overall impact amount through the appropriate functional assessments to generate a quantity of compensation mitigation.

Yes. The feasibility study will identify and examine realistic beneficial use opportunities associated with the proposed widening and/or deepening activities.  Beneficial use considerations will include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Fill legacy dredge holes in Biscayne Bay in an effort to promote recolonization of sea grass and develop a more robust ecosystem within Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve.
• Utilize an upland site, such as Virginia Key, to stage and hold dredged material for future public projects, instead of placing the entirety of the material in the Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS) four miles offshore. 

The Army Corps Of Engineers (ACOE) circular, EC 11052-412, mandates the use of certified or approved models for all  planning activities to ensure the models are technically and theoretically sound, compliant with USACE policy, computationally accurate, and based on reasonable assumptions. The following planning models are used to develop a recommended plan for navigation projects: HarborSym 1.5.8.3 (Economics), Regional Economic System (Economics), ADCIRC / SWAN (Storm Surge Analysis), and the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method & HEA (Environmental Resources).

In addition, the Ship Simulator at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is being utilized to evaluate the proposed channel modifications.  The ship-simulator/vessel response models are used in conjunction with tidal circulation and wave models. Simulator components developed in-house include visual scenes and the environmental conditions used in the simulator, which incorporate model-generated multi-dimensional hydrodynamic flow fields, tides, and waves.  In addition to having subject matter experts conduct these studies, only licensed pilots are chosen for operating the simulator vessels.  These pilots, such as the Biscayne Bay Pilots, have years of experience in navigating the federal channel being studied.

Both container vessels and cruise ships experience transportation inefficiencies.  For example, container vessels entering/exiting Miami Harbor today are restricted by channel depth and must light load and/or wait on tide in order to enter the Port. In addition, cruise ships can also experience considerable time delays and scheduling conflicts because of limited turning basin dimensions.

A description and history for the Miami Harbor Deepening projects, along with project related documents, can be found at: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Navigation-Projects/Miami-Habor-Deepening.

It’s important to note that the study phase for the previous project, Phase 3 Deepening, began in 2000. The Corps made the recommendation for a 50 foot channel depth in April 2005.  At that time, the most recent data available was through 2003 and the world's largest container ships were around 5,200 to 7,600 TEUs which consisted of 104 vessels total.  The second largest class included vessels in the 3,900 to 5,200 TEU range and totaled 203.  The largest vessels consistently calling on the East Coast at that time were around 4,500 TEUs.  Over the last few years the number and size of the World Fleet has grown substantially. The completion of the Panama Canal expansion in 2015 changed world shipping patterns and the vessel types that transit them.   In 2015 there were around 388 vessels ranging from 7,600 to 12,000 TEUs and 124 vessels greater than 12,000.  By 2030, those numbers are forecasted to be around 742 vessels between 7,600 to 12,000 TEUs and 458 vessels greater than 12,000 TEUs.     

Among triggers for growth in international trade is the expanded Panama Canal, since deep-draft ports on Florida’s eastern seaboard are serving an increasing number of mega-ships. (Source: Pathway to Prosperity: The 2019-2023 Five-Year Florida Seaport Mission Plan) Since the last expansion at Miami Harbor, the size of vessels in the world fleet has increased, and to accommodate wider and deeper draft vessels, Miami Harbor will require additional modifications to remain competitive and to accommodate these vessels.

The Biscayne Bay Pilots Association (BBPA) who bring the ships into Port are facing multiple difficulties in maneuvering when entering the outer entrance channel from the ocean, translating into delays in vessel transportation while pilots wait on optimal conditions in specific areas of the channel in order to transit safely.  Additional needs consist of allowing a larger turning radius for larger Post-Panamax vessels in Lummus Island Turning Basin,  reducing cruise ship turning/transit time in the Fisher Island Turning Basin, and allowing larger Post-Panamax vessels and cruise ships in Fisherman’s Channel to transit past moored containerships, specifically when the gantry cranes are loading them. 

Given the aforementioned issues, the Port of Miami wanted to determine the best course of action and therefore requested a new feasibility study in March 2018, followed by the Corps of Engineers completing an Initial Appraisal in April 2018, thus resulting in a recommendation for a new feasibility study. See Section 216 of the Flood Control Act of 1970. The Miami Harbor feasibility study commenced with the signing of the Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement (FCSA) on 09/04/2018 and will be complete with the signing of the Chief of Engineer's Report by the end of 2021.

The previous Miami Harbor project was completed in 2015, but the Panama Canal Expansion was completed a year later in 2016, changing worldwide shipping patterns and needs for Florida Ports, and in particular the Port of Miami.

Other East coast ports are being expanded, but no two ports are alike, and Port of Miami is recognized as the cruise capital of the world and the cargo gateway of the Americas.

Demand for freight transport, cruise calls, and TEU’s per vessel continues to increase annually at Miami Harbor.  For example, freight and cruises increased at Miami Harbor between 2012 and 2016, increasing an average 1.7% per year for freight and increasing an average 5.9% per year for cruise ship calls. In addition, TEUs moved per vessel call increased over 11% per year between 2012 and 2016 at Miami Harbor. (Source: Initial Appraisal Report Miami Harbor Navigation Improvement Project date April 2018)

In addition, Port of Miami is Miami-Dade County’s second most important economic engine contributing $43 billion annually to the local economy and supporting more than 334,500 jobs in South Florida.

Deepening is not anticipated to have an adverse effect on storm surge, however, it will be fully evaluated through detailed modeling and analyses during the feasibility study utilizing the ADCIRC / SWAN model (Storm Surge Analysis).  (Source: ADCIRC Storm Modeling for the Miami-Dade Study NOV2018 Report)

Due to the impending increase in the number of Post Panamax vessels in the world fleet and the opening of the Panama Canal expansion, the transition of larger vessels to Florida’s Ports is anticipated to occur, with or without the proposed channel widening and deepening of Miami Harbor.  However, previous navigation analyses have demonstrated that channel improvements alone will not have an impact on the forecasted demand of commodities handled at a particular port. 

The Port of Miami (Sponsor) asserts that the proposed channel improvements at Miami Harbor would allow for those commodities that are transported through the harbor to move more efficiently.  If the project is approved and the modifications allow vessels calling on the harbor to transit more efficiently (carrying additional cargo per call), the total number of cargo vessels required to meet the anticipated demand at Miami Harbor during the period of analysis would most likely decrease compared to the current channel configuration.   According to the report “Pathway to Prosperity: The 2019-2023 Five-Year Florida Seaport Mission Plan”, larger vessels make fewer port calls but deliver higher volumes of international tonnage to the ports that they choose to call.