The Water Institute of the Gulf has received a $500,000 grant through the National Coastal Resilience Fund to move forward with its Port Fourchon project.
The $500,000 grant to the Institute will be leveraged with private funding from Chevron, Shell, Danos as well as the Greater Lafourche Port Commission to move forward with an initiative called the “Partnership for our Working Coast.” The initiative involves dredging and upgrading the port, and then using the dredged materials for other coastal sustainability efforts.
The grant will specifically go toward the next phase of the initiative, where stakeholders will work with computer models to produce a preliminary project design.
The Institute estimates that about $100 million in potential service work leaves the U.S. annually due to inadequate service capacity, which the dredging would improve. About 20 million cubic yards of material would be dredged during the project, of which 10-12 million cubic yards would be needed to expand the port and mitigate wetlands. The remaining 8-10 million yards of material would be free for coastal sustainability efforts.
Read a 10/12 Industry Report feature about the Port Fourchon project here, and The Institute’s announcement here.
