Port Houston Project 11 Reaches New Milestone

Houston Ship Channel Expansion - Project 11 Dredge Map. Segments 1A and 2 were completed in 2023. Image courtesy of Port Houston.

During the Feb. 29 meeting of the port commission of the Port of Houston Authority, Chairman Ric Campo highlighted a $136 million contract award on the port commission’s agenda for segment 1C of the Houston Ship Channel Expansion - Project 11. Callan Marine Ltd. ("Callan Marine"), the newly awarded segment 1C contractor, will use its recently christened 32-inch cutter suction dredge, the General Arnold, considered the newest, largest, and most environmentally friendly cutter suction dredge in the U.S. fleet for the undertaking. The dredge features four EPA Tier 4 engines developing a combined 24,000 horsepower and utilizing exhaust gas re-circulation technology to reduce emissions to sub-Tier 4 levels.

The award to Callan Marine marks Port Houston’s final Project 11 dredge contract, and its work will complete the channel reach through Galveston Bay underscoring the commission’s dedication to strategic infrastructure development for the betterment of the safety and efficiency of the channel. The remaining Project 11 segments will be carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Staff also reported to the commission that Curtin Maritime Corp. ("Curtin") completed its dredging operations in the channel, and as a result, upon U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acceptance and Aids to Navigation (“ATON”) relocation, daylight restrictions are expected to be lifted along an additional 3 1/2 miles of its reach. This means roughly 30 minutes of additional transit time should now be available for deep-draft vessels in the nation’s busiest waterway. Curtin used its Avalon, a Tier 4 vessel and one of the most environmentally friendly in America, to dredge approximately 5 million cubic yards of material, some of which was used to create 260 acres of oyster mitigation improvements between the San Leon and Dollar Reef sites.

More than $166 million in awards was also brought to the commission for approval during the Feb. 29 meeting, underscoring Port Houston’s continued commitment towards investments in growth and improvements at its public terminals.