Dredging Coastal Ports

Are the nation's ports adequate for our present and future needs? This volume points out that no significant new deep-water construction has occurred for a decade, and provides the information and analysis needed to goad the ports and the federal government into action. The book asks three questions: Is additional port construction and maintenance dredging needed now or over the next 20 years? What would prevent dredging if it is needed? What alternatives could make additional dredging possible? The book identifies several problems in dredging ports, including the long interval between a decision to deepen a port and the time the alterations are complete. The United States needs to speed port construction to meet changing needs, and the committee recommends that we prepare for future needs by dredging now.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Findings
• 3. Overview of Dredging Issues
• 4. Does the United States Need to Accommodate Large Vessels?
• 5. Options for Handling Large Vessels
• 6. Funding Issues
• 7. The Institutional Decision Making System
• 8. Assessment of Technical Considerations and Needs to be Met in Dredging U.S. Ports
• 9. Environmental Issues
• A: Summary of Committee Expertise
• B: General Design Criteria for Dredged Navigational Facilities
• C: Questionnaire to Pilots' Organizations
• D: Request for Information from Ports of Other Maritime Nations
• E: Policy and Legislation Pertinent to Dredging
• F: Commissioned Papers and Background Materials Prepared for Study of National Dredging Issues
• G: Figures and Tables
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