The board of Port Tampa Bay has approved a $60m expansion plan for expanding and widening Big Bend Channel.
It is a joint public-private partnership project involving the Port and four other bodies – Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the US Army Corps of Engineers, Tampa Electric Co (TECO) and fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. – and it is intended to make the channel able to host larger vessels.
Big Bend Channel connects to Tampa Harbor main channel and the project will see it widened by 200 feet to 250 feet and deepened by 34 feet to 43 feet.
Army Corps estimates put the cost at more than $60m but the hope is that the bidding process will yield lower quotes.
Bidding is expected to begin in March 2018.
TECO and Mosaic (which are two of the port’s largest tenants) will bear the lion’s share of the budget.
