Harbor Deepening
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Jacksonville's main shipping channel is a 21-mile stretch of the St. Johns River extending from the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean to the Jacksonville Port Authority's (JAXPORT's) Talleyrand Marine Terminal just north of downtown Jacksonville.
As the owner and manager of Jacksonville's public ship terminals, JAXPORT considers maintaining a deep harbor essential to keeping Jacksonville's port viable. A competitive harbor depth allows Jacksonville to accommodate the water depth (draft) requirements of fully-loaded cargo vessels which currently call Jacksonville's port, and to meet the needs of new, even larger cargo ships which will seek to call Jacksonville in the future.
While the federal channel along the St. Johns River is maintained at a depth of 40 feet, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently considering two harbor projects. The first project would improve the flow of the St. Johns River at Mile Point, where intracoastal and river currents pose navigational hindrances for deep draft vessels during certain tidal conditions. Learn more about the Mile Point project.
The second project would meet the needs of larger cargo ships projected to call Jacksonville in the future. Toward that end, the Corps is in the midst of a comprehensive, years-long economic, engineering and environmental study to find the optimum depth of Jacksonville's federal channel. With favorable study results, this project's timeline could coincide with the expansion of the Panama Canal over the next several years, positioning JAXPORT as the first U.S. East Coast port of call for large vessels in the East-West trade lane.
For more information about Jacksonville's harbor deepening projects, please email us or contact us by telephone at (904) 357-3080.
