The Port of Houston Authority announced this week the completion of the deepening and widening of Barbours Cut channel, making Barbours Cut Container Terminal the Port Authority's first 45-foot deep draft container facility.
The Port Authority handles 67 percent of all containerized cargo in the US Gulf, and Barbours Cut is its largest container terminal. Improvements to the Barbours Cut channel are projected to result in over $900 million in combined local, state and national economic benefits over the next 50 years, according to a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Completion of this work followed the Port Commission award last year of a $68.9 million construction contract for Bayport and Barbours Cut channel and terminal improvements.
In an operational performance report, Executive Director Roger Guenther said that steel volume reached a record high last year, but is down 10 percent through August versus 2014. “The softening in steel reflects a return to a normal growth pattern,” Guenther noted. Port Authority-operated facilities cargo tonnage over exceeds 21 million tons for the year, reflecting an increase of eight percent versus 2014 results.