On June 1, the Port of Houston started Project 11 to expand the Houston Ship Channel—the planning for which started in 2010. Scheduled for completion in 2025, the $1.1 billion expansion project will allow the ship channel to accommodate an additional 1,400 vessels per year.
Along the Houston Ship Channel’s 26-mile reach to the Galveston Bay, Project 11 will increase the channel’s width from 530 feet to 700 feet. It will also increase the upstream segments’ depth from the current 45 feet to 46.5 feet.
Currently, the channel accommodates about 8,200 vessels and 215,000 barges each year, hauling more than 247 million tons of cargo. The Port of Houston handled 5 percent of total U.S. exported bulk grains, soybeans, and grain products in 2020.