Creation of Port Fourchon’s Slip C Anticipated to Develop New Business
Airfocus 2012 10 06 Houma Nola Racetrack Nola Motor Furchon LASHIP NAS Galliano
(GALLIANO, LA) – The Greater Lafourche Port Commission is pleased to announce that the latest phase of Slip C dredging is complete, carving out a new expanse of waterfront property where there once was just open water. The Slip C Additional Hydraulic Dredging Project, which followed the initial Slip C dredging project in early 2012, creates a new slip in the Northern Expansion area of Port Fourchon.
The new Slip C is a 400-acre development which will provide 16,300 linear feet of new waterfront space in Port Fourchon. Once the adjacent property is filled and developed, companies will be able to lease up to 280 acres of waterfront property along the new slip. A fully developed Slip C is estimated to take five to eight years to construct, but over half of the Slip C waterfront property is already promised to companies who have signed leases or rights of first refusal.
“With continued investment in development projects like these,” said Port Director Chett Chiasson, “we will be able to provide the basic infrastructure needed to serve our current tenants and attract future tenants, which ultimately means creating jobs and revenue for our community and the surrounding area.”
Board President Larry Griffin is excited to see how quickly the port is growing. “People believe in our port and the way we do business. We’re leasing out property faster than we can build it. It’s amazing to see the port grow before our eyes.”
And all of that growth takes a mixture of initiative, cooperation, time, and money. The Port Commission has historically re-invested money generated from the port into new port development projects, planning decades in advance, seeking grant funding, and working with private and public stakeholders to construct projects that best suit both business and environment. To date, the Slip C dredging project has placed approximately half of dredged material to fill in new property and half in a mitigation area that both builds additional habitat areas for wildlife and acts as a natural barrier to protect Port Fourchon from storm surge.
“Port Fourchon is in the forefront of the push to use dredge spoils beneficially,” Port Director Chett Chiasson said. “Not only do we work to dredge channels at depths that port businesses need, but we also use the dredged materials to create new waterfront property and new marshlands as part of our mitigation. We make room for industry and at the same time enhance our environment with a balance that few other places can achieve.”
The dredging of Slip C, which was funded by port-generated revenues and LA DOTD’s Port Priority Program, was completed in early December, and bulkhead projects are anticipated to follow in 2013.
Slip C by the Numbers:
$ 14,300,000 Cost to cut and dredge slip, fill development property, & construct mitigation $ 400,000 Cost for surveying, permits, preliminary site work, and temporary levees $ 57,800,000 Cost to install 16,300 ft of new steel sheet pile bulkhead along Slip C $ 3,250,000 Cost to install roads, drainage, and utilities to new Slip C properties $ 75,390,000 Total estimated public/port investment for above Slip C development costs $260,000,000 Potential tenant investment in new onsite Slip C facilities $335,590,000 Grand total of estimated public AND private investment in Slip C infrastructure 750 - 1,000 Potential permanent jobs created by Slip C development 50+ Potential number of large service vessels that will utilize Slip C $1.5 Billion Estimated value of 50 deepwater support service vessels (at 300 ft each)