If all happens as plans, construction could start on the Mile Point project by 2013, opening Jacksonville’s ports to more ships during longer periods of the day.
“Pending authorization by Congress and appropriation, we could begin construction in 2013,” said Steve Ross, Jacksonville District senior project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ross and the COO of the Jacksonville Port Authority updated the City Council Waterways Commission Wednesday about plans that are under review to fix Mile Point.
The Mile Point situation limits the amount of time cargo ships can call on Jacksonville ports.
A hurdle to development of the port and job growth, the Mile Point project was developed to eliminate or alleviate the crosscurrents that occur during ebb flow (low tide) at the confluence of the St. Johns River and Intracoastal Waterway.
The issue limits the time cargo and container ships can call on Jacksonville’s ports to two four-hour windows each day.
The JPA and the Corps have developed a possible solution that has been submitted for public review.
“We released the draft feasibility report to the public in July and we had a public meeting in August. We received about 220 comments that the Corps is responding to,” Ross told the commission.
“Our final report will be submitted to the division office in Atlanta, which will then submit it to the Washington, D.C., office, which will prepare a chief’s report, the recommendation to Congress,” he said.
“We expect the chief’s report to be submitted to Congress in March 2012,” he said.
Congressional approval is needed to begin construction of the proposed solution to correct the crosscurrent at Mile Point.
The recommended plan is to relocate 3,110 feet of the western end of the current training wall and open up the confluence of the Intracoastal Waterway and the St. Johns River.
Construction is awaiting Congressional approval, but the Corps can begin the design phase of the project after the report is sent to the Corps division office in Atlanta.
“When the division recommends it to our headquarters office, this allows us to begin the design phase. We anticipate by the end of the month that we will begin the design efforts,” said Ross.
Once Congress authorizes and appropriates funds for the project, construction could begin in 2013, he said.
Council member John Crescimbeni questioned the end result of the nearly $40 million project after being told that the construction would likely provide up to four more hours for ships with at least a 40-foot draft to call on Jacksonville ports.
“That makes that big of a difference in your industry?” said Crescimbeni, to Chris Kauffman, JPA chief operating officer, after Kauffmann said the construction would increase the time from eight hours to 10-12 hours.
“Absolutely. It doesn’t sound like much given the expense, but it gives the added flexibility for ships to come in,” said Kauffmann.
Port representatives have maintained that more access by vessels means more traffic and more jobs.
“What we expect to happen once this project is completed by the Corps is that the river pilots will be able to test the ships going through the newly expanded Mile Point area,” Kauffmann said.
“They will feel the hydraulic force that’s happening at ebb tide when the water is coming out and heading north from the Intracoastal Waterway and pushing up against the sides of the ships, notice that the force isn’t what it was before and, therefore, over time, relax the restrictions so that they open up the windows of time so that these ships are allowed to come through the Mile Point area,” he said.
One of the main missions of the Waterways Commission is to “study and make recommendations to the (City) Council with respect to the improvement, development and protection of the St. Johns River and all tidal waters in Duval County.”
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