The Port of Boston

[vanshnookenraggen]

I think this is an apt place for a thread for things regarding the port (water and air).

This was in todays Globe:

Big ships, a deeper channel
Massport examines dredging project

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff | May 29, 2006

The Massachusetts Port Authority wants to deepen the 11-mile shipping channel into Boston Harbor to accommodate large cargo ships, a project that would move nearly 60 percent as much earth as the Big Dig.

The operator of the Port of Boston and the Army Corps of Engineers are close to finishing a four-year, $4 million study evaluating the economic feasibility of digging down through 5 to 10 feet of clay and rock to deepen the channel to 45 to 50 feet. The project, estimated at about $100 million, would have to be authorized by Congress, because the federal government would pay half the cost. The work would take about four years to complete and would not interfere with shipping.

``Our 40-foot channel puts us at a competitive disadvantage," said Mike Leone, Boston's port director. ``The next generation [of cargo ships] is coming in deeper."

Already some ships must ride the high tide to enter the harbor, and the Coast Guard is investigating whether a container ship scraped the channel bottom off Spectacle Island this winter -- possibly a sign that ships could ground there in the future.

Worldwide port trade is expected to double by 2020, and cargo ships are being built larger to transport more goods and take advantage of the economies of scale. Cruise ships are also getting bigger. As a result, more than 25 ports in the United States are either expanding their channels or considering such projects, according to the American Association of Port Authorities. Both New York and Los Angeles are going to 50 feet deep. Congress has already appropriated money for some of these projects.

``It's a challenge for every port to get funding," said Leone, who said that the Massachusetts congressional delegation has been supportive of port projects in the past. He said he expects it will support this one.

A Coast Guard spokesman in Boston, Lieutenant Greg Callaghan, said his agency supports dredging to improve navigation safety.

Massive public works projects under Boston Harbor became feats of engineering in the 1990s, with a tunnel bored through bedrock to build Deer Island's 9 1/2-mile sewage pipe and massive amounts of dredging to make room for the Big Dig's Ted Williams Tunnel .

But digging a deeper shipping channel would be the biggest single dredging operation in the harbor since the 1940s, when it was widened, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. The new project would involve dredging about 10 million cubic yards of clay and mud -- enough to cover an area the size of Boston Common, 12-feet deep. By contrast, the entire Big Dig dredged or excavated about 17.6 million cubic yards of material.

The study is examining deepening the harbor's entrance channel, which is 1,500 feet wide; the main shipping lane, which is 1,200 feet wide; and the Chelsea River.

The work would not extend into the inner harbor because the Ted Williams Tunnel and the MBTA Blue Line are in the way.

The new project also will not affect several tributaries of the harbor that were dredged five years ago to bring them to the harbor's current depth.

The material to be dredged appears to contain few contaminants. Army Corps of Engineers tests indicate that the Boston blue clay under the channel floor that will be dug up has been untouched by hundreds of years of industrial pollution. That means it can be safely dumped in Massachusetts Bay at a federally designated disposal site about 23 miles offshore.

``It's virgin material that has never been exposed," said Michael Keegan, the Army Corps project manager.

Still, environmentalists and fishermen are concerned about the project's impact, particularly on fish migration.

``We want them to avoid our gear. . . . We want them to let fishermen know where they are going to be," said Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association.

Traps are not supposed to be set in the shipping channel, but lobstermen place them around its perimeter.

This summer, a separate, $40 million maintenance dredging project will begin in the channel that will scrape off sediment carried into the harbor by the Chelsea and Mystic rivers.

That material is considered unsuitable for the offshore disposal site because of high levels of some chemicals. It will be buried under the main shipping channel and the Mystic River and capped with sand.

The Port of Boston has undergone a transformation since the mid-1990s, when it was facing major financial problems from falling cargo volumes.

Since then, Massport has invested $50 million to upgrade facilities and is currently building a $25 million expansion to South Boston's Conley Terminal.

It has attracted more Chinese shipping lines to come here directly from Asia and has attracted more cruise ships to the Black Falcon terminal.

Between May 2005 and last month, 256 container vessels visited Conley -- a 9 percent increase over the previous 12 months -- and the number of cruise ship passengers increased 18 percent during the same period.

But specialists say if Boston's shipping channel does not get deeper, bigger ships will go to naturally deeper ports, such as Halifax, Nova Scotia, or to cities that have already invested in deepening projects.

Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...eeper_channel/




Although I don't have the numbers infront of my to prove it, I do belive that the port of Boston takes in more cargo today than it ever did, or just as much as it ever did and growing.

Infact, I don't think most people know anything about the port.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

This is a great idea. Keeping the Port of Boston vibrant is key to the economic health of the region. There's a ton of jobs involved - loading and unloading, trucking, shipping elsewhere, trucking, moving (some people ship personal effects from other countries and need them moved into their new houses). Also, customs brokerage (my stepdad owns a customs brokerage business). If we make it easier to ship cargo into Boston, we create jobs and help the local economy.

[Patrick]

this move would probably put Boston back at being the #2 port on the east coast (maybe even #1)

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by vanshnookenraggen

Although I don't have the numbers infront of my to prove it, I do belive that the port of Boston takes in more cargo today than it ever did, or just as much as it ever did and growing.

Infact, I don't think most people know anything about the port.

In terms of just the sea port, I think Boston has fallen off from its previous peak. I know that several years ago Portland, Maine surpassed it in terms of tonnage received to become the #2 port on the east coast (after Miami ro somewhere like that I think). maybe this has changed.

[KentXie]

I say do it. Isn't Philadelphia doing the exact same thing too? I hope the land remove will be used to create more land in Boston or something like that.

[Patrick]

anyone know what percentage, even if its a rough estimate, of boston is built on infill? The same sort of tactics were employed while constructing much of portland's outer-lying downtown areas, which used to all be under water at high tide. My father told me the same father/sons who worked a lot on the layout of parts of boston that were built on infill played a big role in planning sections of portland as well. he is from boston and has lived in maine for quite some time now, but i dont have a clue where he got his info from, so it may not be credible. anyone know anymore about this?

[statler]

This map should give you a good idea of how much of Boston is fill.

http://www.iboston.org/rg/backbayImap_1890.htm

[frank skeffington]

Boston is ranked 30th in North America by volume of port trade. On the east coast it ranks behind NYC, Miami, Savannah, Charleston, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Hampton VA...and probably a few others.

[Benhamin]

This is a good idea, the seaport is a valuable resource that until recently had been neglected for too long.

There is no way Boston is number 2 in anything portwise though.

[ezcheese]

Originally Posted by statler

This map should give you a good idea of how much of Boston is fill.

http://www.iboston.org/rg/backbayImap_1890.htm

this is really cool. thanks for posting!

[Ron Newman]

Isn't Halifax somewhere in the top five? It's my impression that much of Boston's former port traffic now goes there instead.

[Scott]

http://www.massport.com/ports/about_ports.html

Here's Massport's stats concerning the port. The goods we export continue to rise and that is a good thing and the high-end cruise industry is now one of Boston's assets.

I'm trying to find the numbers on the civilian watercraft industry that has blossomed over the last 10 years in Boston as the harbor has gotten cleaner. Surely it makes a significant contribution to our economy.

[KentXie]

So is this project really going to happen or is it still in it's proposal stage. I hope this really goes through because other rival cities like Philadelphia (which is also hoping to deepen their port) is increasing their productivity of their seaports while ours remain stagnant.