Dredge Work On Delaware River One Step Closer To Completion
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Local politicians were on hand in South Philadelphia to celebrate the latest batch of federal funding targeted to a long term dredging project along the Delaware River.
The latest chunk of cash, $55-million, will take care of a portion of the river from Tinicum to Marcus Hook, bringing the depth of the shipping channel to 45 feet.
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey knows this has been an ongoing battle for federal funding for far longer than he's been in Washington.
"We had a lot of consensus on this project a long time ago, but there wasn't enough consensus or enough momentum to get the funding," Casey told a few dozen people gathered for a press conference at the Packer Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia. "Now we've had several successive years of not just millions of dollars from the federal government, but literally tens of millions year after year."
Casey was joined at the event by Congressman Bob Brady, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and several other political, port and labor officials.
It's thought the project will not only preserve thousands of jobs at the port, but add thousands more as larger hulled cargo ships make their way to the Port of Philadelphia. Hopes are to complete the dredge work as soon as next year.
But that doesn't mean there won't be more work done at the port, nor does it mean the need for federal funding will cease. Supporters of the port say they'll need to provide more storage space for cargo carriers and better equipment, like more modern cranes, to compete with other ports along the east coast.
The politicians say they're working on that.
