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States accept greater burden for port improvements

Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner Keith Golden, center, Georgia Port Authority executive director Curtis Foltz, right, and Col. Thomas Tickner, with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers sign a cost-sharing agreement for the Savannah Harbor Expansionas as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, left rear, Gov. Nathan Deal, center rear, and and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., look on Project at the Home Depot Direct Fulillment Center Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014, in Locust Grove , Ga. The expansion will allow larger ships to use the port. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner Keith Golden, center, Georgia Port Authority executive director Curtis Foltz, right, and Col. Thomas Tickner, with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers sign a cost-sharing agreement for the Savannah Harbor Expansionas as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, left rear, Gov. Nathan Deal, center rear, and and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., look on Project at the Home Depot Direct Fulillment Center Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014, in Locust Grove , Ga. The expansion will allow larger ships to use the port. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

By Associated Press October 11, 2014 1 min read

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – East Coast states are shouldering more of the financial burden rather than wait for money from Washington as they race to deepen waterways that cargo ships travel to reach their seaports

Georgia this week agreed to let the Army Corps of Engineers begin deepening the shipping channel to the Port of Savannah using $266 million in state money. Washington should cover 60 percent of the $706 million cost, but there’s no guarantee when that will happen.

In South Carolina, a new study shows the state would pay two-thirds of a $509 million dredging project for the Charleston port. The state would pay extra to dig deeper than the Army Corps recommends.

Larger ships are expected along the East Coast after the Panama Canal finishes a major expansion in 2016.