MARAD Awards $12.6 Million in Grants for US Marine Highways
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along our navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods…
Search Suspended for Man Overboard near Cedar Bayou
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday for a man who went missing after his shrimp boat overturned Monday near Cedar Bayou on the Houston Ship Channel. The Coast Guard, Chambers County Sheriff’s office, Port of Houston Fire Department, and Harris County Dive Team searched for nearly 17 hours and covered more than 38 square miles with no sign of the missing man. “We conducted 13 sorties and searched more than 17 hours for the missing man, saturating the area with both aircraft and boats," said Zack Edwards, the command duty officer at Sector Houston-Galveston. "Unfortunately, we did not locate him and have suspended the search.
Secretary LaHood Designates New Marine Highway in Texas
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has designated a new marine highway in Chambers County, Texas. The “M-146 Marine Highway Connector,” which is sponsored by the Chambers County Texas Improvement District No. 1 and the Chambers Liberty Counties Navigation District, spans the 25-mile waterway between the Cedar Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel, connecting to the Port of Houston on the M-10 Marine Highway Corridor. A container-on-barge service currently operating on the M-146 has already reduced regional roadway traffic by approximately 2,000 containers per month. A marine highway is a designated route for transporting cargo on water, reducing pollution and congestion on roads.
New USACE Contracts
Weeks Marine, Inc., Covington, La., was awarded on Feb. 25, 2010, a $58,509,050 firm-fixed-price contract for work consisting of mechanical and hydraulic construction of containment levees requiring deep excavation to minus-70 ft, shoreline protection, and spillbox rehab to increase the capacity of Placement Areas 14 and 15; and maintenance and new work dredging of the Houston Galveston Navigation Channel Bayport to Morgans Point with four options. Work is to be performed at Harris County, Texas, and Chambers County, Texas, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2012. Thirty-four bids were solicited with four bids received. U.S. Army Engineer District Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-10-C-0016).
