Press Releases

Representative Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Ga-01), along with Representatives Sanford Bishop (Ga-02), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga-03), Hank Johnson (Ga-04), John Lewis (Ga-05), Rob Woodall (Ga-06), Austin Scott (Ga-08), Doug Collins (Ga-09), Jody Hice (Ga-10), Barry Loudermilk (Ga-11), Rick Allen (Ga-12), David Scott (Ga-13), and Tom Graves (Ga-14) urged the House Appropriations Committee to prioritize funding for the construction of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, known as SHEP, in the fiscal year 2017 budget process. 

In a letter to Chairman Mike Simpson and Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, the Georgia congressional delegation recommended that the committee allocate the funding needed to keep the project on budget and on time. 

While the President only requested $42.7 million for SHEP in his fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, according to the Army Corps of Engineers’ current construction plan, if the federal government fails to provide at least $80-$100 million a year to the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project for fiscal years 2017-2020, the project cannot be completed on time and the resulting delays will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The delegation noted, "a partially completed channel deepening project provides zero value to the nation. If the rate of SHEP's construction were to continue at the rate reflected in the FY 2017 request, the completion of SHEP would be delayed by at least five years and USACE estimates that the delay would add well over $100 million to the project construction cost. Combined with the multi-year loss of the $174 million in annual economic benefits, the total cost of under-funding SHEP is a staggering and unrecoverable loss of nearly $1 billion."

Background:

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project was authorized in the Water Resources and Development Act of 1999 to deepen the Savannah River from its current 42-foot depth to as much as 47 feet. The project is being undertaken in anticipation of an expansion of the Panama Canal that will increase the maximum draft of vessels traveling to and from the East Coast from 39.5 feet to as much as 50 feet.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the harbor deepening project will bring $174 million in annual net benefits to the United States. For the Post-Panamax II vessels, the extra five feet of depth will allow for an additional 3,600 cargo containers in each transit, an increase of 78 percent.

The deepening project will cost approximately $706 million, including construction and environmental mitigation costs. The federal government has a role in funding this project because the U.S. Constitution gives authority over navigable waters.

Dredging for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project began on September 14, 2015.