Charleston harbor deepening study gets federal funding

Plans to deepen the Charleston Harbor got a boost today, with the announcement that $2.5 million in federal funding has been included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' national work plan for this year.

"This is wonderful news for the 260,000 South Carolinians whose jobs depend on the competitiveness of our port," said Bill Stern, chairman of the South Carolina Ports Authority board.

The $2.5 million comes from the spending plan Congress approved in December. The the inclusion of the funding in the Corps' work plan gives certainty that the money is available now to spend on the Charleston study during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

The federal funding, combined with a matching amount from the SPA, will cover a quarter of the estimated $20 million cost of the study. The project is aimed at making the Port of Charleston shipping channels at least 50 feet deep in order to accommodate larger container ships.

"Deepening Charleston Harbor is the number-one issue for South Carolina's economy," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC. "The Port of Charleston is our economic gateway to the world."

Graham worked to get funding for the study into the federal budget without violating a ban on earmarks. He said the next hurdle will be seeing whether the president's budget includes funding for the fiscal 2013 year beginning Oct. 1.

The multi-year harbor deepening feasibility study began last summer, with just $150,000 in federal money available.

The study is estimated to take five to seven years, though the SPA and state and federal lawmakers have urged the Corps to speed up the pace. Engineering, design, and construction to deepen the channel could take an additional six years, and the total project cost could be $350 million, the Corps has estimated.

Read more in Thursday's editions of The Post and Courier.