Port of Morgan City Seeks Dredging Solution to Rapidly Silting Channel

摘要

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District has released a request for proposals for the maintenance of Atchafalaya River Bar Channel leading from the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Morgan City. With an authorized 20 by 400 foot navigation channel that connects to the Gulf Intra-coastal Waterway and Mississippi River by way of the Atchafalaya River, the Port of Morgan City markets itself as an alternative to nearby coastal deep draft ports for shallow to medium draft vessels. Unfortunately, import-export shipments at the Port of Morgan City have come to a halt due to rapid silting along an 8-mile offshore stretch of the port's navigation channel. In addition to its inshore channel along the Atchafalaya River, the port maintains a channel extending 20 miles offshore. The 8-mile section in question, called the "bar channel," is plagued by "fluff," a soupy, rapidly-accumulating silt that stifles navigation.