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Port dredging progresses

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By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: June 30, 2009

The Manatee County Port Authority has approved a $2.1 million bid for dredging work for a new, 1,584-foot berth at Port Manatee as part of a $150 million, 10-year port expansion to accommodate container shipping.

The berth is to be operational by early 2010, the port said last week.

Sarasota-based Spectrum Underground Inc. was the low bidder for the first phase of the dredging project with an offer $1.1 million less than preliminary engineering estimates.

The poor economy has generated bids for construction at Florida's seaports and airports, and many of those bids have been lower than anticipated.

"This opens the door to advance Port Manatee's future in containerized shipping," director David L. McDonald said.

Last month, McDonald signed a strategic alliance with the Panama Canal to share information.
Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deep-water seaport to the canal, edging out the Port of Tampa, which also expects to benefit from the completion of the Panama Canal's expansion, scheduled to be completed by 2014.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817

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