Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. announced today that the company was recently awarded two major dredging contracts totaling $186.6 million.
The awarded work includes:
- Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project, Dredging Reaches 1, 2, and 4 (Capital, Texas, $157.4 million)
- Galveston Entrance Channel and Houston Ship Channel Dredging Project (Maintenance, Texas, $29.2 million)
The Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project will deepen the channel to authorized depths of 51' to 56', which will make Port of Freeport the deepest port in Texas. This channel is 7.5 miles and is currently the shortest channel on the Texas Gulf coast with direct access to the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway. This project will open the state to larger ships. The client on this project is the Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, and is federally funded. Work is expected to begin in the second half of 2023 with estimated completion in the fourth quarter of 2025. The project is the third largest domestic award in Great Lakes’ history.
The Galveston Entrance Channel and Houston Ship Channel (Bolivar to Redfish) Dredging Project includes maintenance dredging to maintain associated channel depths. The client on this project is also the Corps of Engineers, Galveston District. Work is expected to begin in the second half of 2023 with estimated completion in the first quarter of 2024. This project also includes the beneficial use of dredged materials on Galveston Island.
"The Freeport Channel Improvement Project is one of the first capital projects to be awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2023 and we anticipate several more capital projects to enter the market before the end of the year," Lasse Petterson, president and CEO said in a statement. “There is a great need for the above listed projects and similar projects to continue to support the overall improvement and resiliency of our country's environment, coastlines and infrastructure.”
