BEAUMONT, Texas — The Sabine Neches Navigation District recently got approved for a historic $357 million loan to deepen the Sabine-Neches Waterway.
This deepening project will be constructed in multiple stages.
The money came from the Ship Channel Improvement Revolving und meant to help build up infrastructure across the state.
12News caught up with the Port of Beaumont Port Director Chris Fisher and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan about how it will impact Southeast Texas.
Both say this project will be a boon to the local economy, allowing for more products to move through our waterways.
"Our ports right here in Southeast Texas will be able to take some of the largest ships in the world, absolutely, and bring them in here," Phelan said.
The $357 million project to deepen the Sabine-Neches Waterway will happen in parts, first on the local level.
"That will allow the Navigation District to go from 40 feet to 44 feet. Deepening it to four feet," said Phelan.
Next the feds will step in to finish the dredging.
"They will come to our waterway and they will drop from 44 feet to 48 feet. And that allows for much larger ships to come to the Port of Beaumont."
The port has already prepared for the deepening project by building four larger docks to accommodate bigger ships.
"The ships will come up at the channels and dock at berths or at our terminals. And we've spent about a quarter of $1 billion building these new berths," said Fisher. "Your older berths a lot of times are not ready for the deeper water. So we're building new berths constantly, trying to maintain and get ready for the deeper water."
Phelan says this project will allow our ports to compete with some of the most robust ports in the world.
"Instead of coming in 60 % full and leaving 60% full, because our ports [are] not deep enough, now those ships can come in almost completely full and leave completely full," Phelan told 12News.
Products moving through the Port of Beaumont include petrochemical, liquid bulk and military goods.
"When you have deeper water, these ships can carry more cargo, it increases efficiency on the waterway. And it creates economies of scale and lowers your transportation costs," Fisher said.
The port has already prepared for the deepening project by building four larger docks to accommodate bigger ships.
"The ships will come up at the channels and dock at berths or at our terminals. And we've spent about a quarter of $1 billion building these new berths." said Fisher.
Both Fisher and Phelan say the project has the potential to create thousands of local jobs.
"So when this waterway eventually goes from 40 feet to 48 feet you're gonna see tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of jobs being created. You can triple the tax revenue, you're gonna triple the retail sales," Phelan said.
Fisher says they expect to see the first stage of deepening completed by the end of 2026.