The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has awarded Callan Marine, the fourth and final contract of the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP), signalling the completion of a national infrastructure initiative that will make the ship channel the most improved waterway along the United States Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida.
The federal government and the Port of Corpus Christi are jointly covering the almost US$682 million project, with Congress allocating the last tranche of project funds in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. This US$157.3 million allocation will be used for the CIP’s final project close-out.
“The completion of this history-making project largely is due to the confluence of several key factors, including the diligence of our friends at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the commitment to prioritizing this critical infrastructure by our federal delegation and the Administration and the growing demand for infrastructure generated by our Port of Corpus Christi customers,” explained Kent Britton, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi.
The congress authorised a study in 1990 to investigate the feasibility of broadening and deepening the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The project entered the building phase in 2017. The first phase was finished in February 2020, and Phase 2 was completed in July 2023. The third phase is planned to be finished in 2023, with the final phase estimated to finish in early 2025.
