On Oct. 8, the final barrier to dredging the Savannah Harbor was lifted as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Ports Authority and the Georgia Department of Transportation signed a partnership agreement giving the construction phase of the project the green light.
At that signing, Col. Thomas Tickner, the corps’ Savannah District commander, said information was already out to potential bidders for both the dredging contract and the contract to build and install the dissolved oxygen injection system, an important aspect of the corps’ mitigation plan.
Since then, bids have been submitted for both and the corps is going through the process of evaluating each one, said corps spokesman Billy E. Birdwell.
“We have not awarded a dredging contract for the SHEP as of today,” Birdwell said Thursday. “Therefore we will not start outer harbor dredging this calendar year. We are evaluating the bids now, but it will be in January, most likely, before we award the contract.”
It’s never easy to evaluate contracts of this magnitude, Birdwell said, even for the corps, which routinely awards dredging jobs.
“It’s not just the bottom line, although that is an essential part of the process,” he said. “We also must evaluate each company’s ability to perform the work in a timely and sound manner. We have to evaluate their ability to meet the schedule and look at their financial stability.
“No one wants to select a company that goes bankrupt in the middle of a project, even if it comes in with the lowest bid. There are many other factors to evaluate.”
The contract for the first section to be dredged — which will extend the outer harbor seven miles — is estimated to be valued at approximately $100 million.
GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz said he’s not concerned that dredging won’t begin this month.
“The important thing is that the process is moving forward,” Foltz said. “This is a massive undertaking with a lot of moving parts. Clearly, we want to get started, but it’s more important at this crucial juncture that the corps
chooses the best contractor for the job.
“As soon as they are satisfied that they have that, I think we’ll see things start to move quickly.”
Birdwell said the corps likely will award the dredging contract before the one for the oxygen system.
On another mitigation note, Birdwell said the corps expects to award a contract for the CSS Georgia removal soon and, if all goes well, work could begin on that part of the project around the first of the year.
“I know we’ve given dates before that needed to be adjusted, but we’re more confident on this one than some others we’ve stated in the past,” he said.
The Confederate ironclad warship, built in Savannah in 1862, was intended to be a gunboat, but historians believe it proved too heavy to maneuver offensively. It was subsequently anchored in the Savannah River, serving as a “floating battery” to protect Savannah and Fort Jackson.
Confederate forces intentionally scuttled the Georgia in December 1864, rather than surrender it to advancing Union forces. The wreck was discovered during a 1968 dredging operation, and the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
A team of specialists, led by Corps archeologist Julie Morgan, has been tasked with bringing the Georgia up and preserving as much of the ship as possible.
All other aspects of the overall project, such as contract evaluations and detailed engineering, continue to move along, Birdwell said.
Transportation summit on tap
Savannah will be well-represented when the 2014 Georgia Transportation Summit convenes Tuesday in Athens.
Jamie McCurry, senior director of administration and governmental affairs at the Georgia Ports Authority, and Page Siplon, executive director for the Georgia Centers of Innovation will serve as a panelists at the one-day event scheduled in conjunction with the 2014 Legislative Biennial.
Hosted by the Georgia Transportation Alliance and the Georgia Chamber, the event will provide a legislative preview and policy update, focusing in part on proposed state legislation to better fund Georgia’s transportation needs and on federal legislation that will have an impact on the state.
For more information on the summit, go to gachamber.com.
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.
TERMINAL VESSEL ETA
GCT VENICE BRIDGE Today
GCT MOZART Today
GCT MAERSK OHIO Today
GCT MSC SAO PAULO Today
GCT MOL MAESTRO Today
GCT ZIM CONSTANZA Today
GCT ERNEST HEMINGWAY Today
GCT MSC STELLA Today
GCT MSC NURIA Today
OT TULANE Today
GCT NEW DELHI EXPRESS Saturday
GCT MSC CAROLINA Saturday
GCT GLEN CANYON BRIDGE Saturday
GCT MAERSK PITTSBURGH Saturday
GCT MAERSK DHAHRAN Saturday
GCT MSC ASYA Saturday
GCT NYK ADONIS Saturday
OT MAGNUM ENERGY Saturday
OT GRANDE BENIN Saturday
GCT PARTICI Sunday
GCT XIN TAI CANG Sunday
GCT OAKLAND EXPRESS Sunday
GCT PHILADELPHIA EXPRESS Monday
GCT EVER LIVEN Monday
GCT SUDAIR Monday
OT ATLANTIC ELAND Monday
OT CIELO DI VENEZIA Monday
GCT MSC LUISA Tuesday
GCT ZIM MONACO Tuesday
GCT ADRIAN MAERSK Tuesday
GCT E.R. DALLAS Tuesday
GCT CONRAD S Wednesday
GCT MSC TEXAS Wednesday
GCT ZIM ONTARIO Wednesday
GCT HS BACH Wednesday
GCT MAERSK SENTOSA Wednesday
GCT VALENCIA BRIDGE Wednesday
GCT HANJIN ATLANTA Wednesday
OT STAR LUSTER Wednesday
GCT MSC VANESSA Thursday
GCT ALIDRA Thursday
GCT CMA CGM AUCKLAND Thursday
GCT MOL EFFICIENCY Thursday
GCT ZIM SAVANNAH Thursday
GCT POHORJE Thursday