A wide-ranging water infrastructure bill, approved this week in the U.S. Senate, will support the effort to deepen the Delaware River and the shipping channel at the Port of Wilmington. The port, which was handed over to United Arab Emirates-based Gulftainer in a 50-year lease deal last month, will be expanded.
The legislation increases the height limit for dredge spoils from 10 feet to 35 feet, which should dramatically increase the speed of the excavation process. The process of placing dredging material is typically slowed while the stacked dirt settles to a lower height so more can be added.
“We’re three and a half times higher in each spot, which gives us more opportunity to move more dredging faster, which then is going to open up the channel quicker,” said Eric Casey, CEO of Gulftainer USA Port of Wilmington.
The quicker dredging process will accelerate Gulftainer’s development of a Delaware River port at the former DuPont Edgemoor site north of the existing port.
Federal dredging measure will help expansion efforts at Port of Wilmington
