Charleston expects harbour dredging to be 'fast-tracked' and under budget

THE deepening of Charleston Harbour is now expected to be finalised within this decade, four years earlier than planned with cost savings forecast by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The new optimism is the result of a new initiative launched by the US Army Corps of Engineers to streamline the civil works planning process.

Army engineers now say the project's feasibility study is expected to be done in four years, rather than five to eight yearsthat was first estimated. This means that a 50-foot dredging of Charleston Harbour can be done before 2020, they say.

The corps also estimates US$5 million in cost savings for the feasibility study, now expected to run to $15 million rather than $20 million.

In February, the Obama administration included $3.5 million toward the project's feasibility study in the president's budget for fiscal year 2013. That allocation, along with the funds already included in the corps' work plan, means the federal share of the feasibility study is more than halfway funded.