Lt. Col. Edward Champberlayne, Corps of Engineers

November 15, 2011: Our speaker was LTC Edward P. Champberlayne, P.E. LTC Champberlayne is Commander and District Engineer at Charleston District, U.S Army Corps of Engineers. He is originally a native of Alexandria, Virginia. He received his PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He now resides in Mt. Pleasant with his wife and two daughters.

Currently, he is heading the Harbor Deepening Feasibility study with the Army Corps of Engineers. His agency has been maintaining the Charleston Harbor for over 130 years. Their project’s mission is to study navigation, flood risk management, ecosystem, and restoration. The motivation behind this project is the 2014 reopening of the Panama Canal and the recent manufacturing of 50ft container ships.

Charleston is currently the fourth busiest traffic container port on the east coast with 1.3 million TEUs a year. The Harbor is only 45 feet deep while the rest of the world is 52ft deep. In order to increase container traffic and keep up with trade globalization, the harbor must be deepened to 50ft. This would allow 50ft ships to pass through our harbor. These bigger ships will be able to carry 11,000 to 14,500 containers.

The goal is to have this project completed within the next 5 to 8 years or at least by year 2020. On the June 20, 2011 an agreement was signed that the cost for this project will be shared 50/50 between the South Carolina State Ports Authority and the Federal Government. The cost for this project is estimated between $18-$20 million dollars.

For more information visit: www.sac.usace.army.mil

Public Scoping Meeting will be 12/13/11 5:30p.m. Mark Clark Hall at the Citadel

Submitted by Katie McCravy, Keyway Committee