Port Houston reports on successful initiatives and impressive ranking

In late October last year, it was announced Port Houston had completed its portion of the Houston Ship Channel Expansion – Project 11 improving the safe and efficient movement of two-way vessel traffic along the channel:

Port Houston, working in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), has completed its portion of the Houston Ship Channel Expansion Project 11, a historic milestone in the future safety, efficiency, and competitiveness of the busiest waterway in the United States.

 

Construction of channel improvements began in 2022, and now the project has reached its most important milestone dredging completion of the widening of the Galveston Bay reach from Bolivar Roads to Morgans Point. With this work done, Port Houston-led project dredging of the Houston Ship Channel is complete.

 

Widening of the channel through Galveston Bay, from 530 feet to 700 feet, represents a physical transformation that allows for improved safety, greater efficiency, and increased economic benefit of this critical economic artery of the region, state, and nation. As vessels continue to grow in length, beam, and tonnage across a variety of vessel types, the widened Galveston Bay reach will help keep the facilities relying on the channel competitive and dynamic, both today and into the future.

 

Port Commission Chairman Ric Campo said. “We commend the incredible Port Houston team, our bipartisan federal and local delegations, and our industry and federal partners for their collaboration and capacity to see clearly the importance of this vital gateway to our nation and ensure its ability to safely sustain and grow international trade. This collaborative achievement is truly a testament to the hard work of all the individuals involved in the project and reminds us of the importance of the Houston Ship Channel to the nation.”

 

While port-led dredging is now complete for navigation, some beneficial use aspects of the project remain under construction, including marsh areas that are being built with dredged material. To the extent possible, all Project 11 dredged material in the Galveston Bay area was used to construct environmental features, which will ultimately include approximately 10 acres of bird islands, 276 acres of marsh, and 324 acres of oyster reefs. In addition to these environmental benefits, Project 11 channel expansion is expected to provide air quality benefits, as vessel nitrogen oxide emissions are expected to be reduced by between three percent and seven percent. In addition, the dredges contracted for the first three segments of the project were equipped with either Tier 3 or Tier 4 engines or scrubbers, which efficiently remove pollutants from exhaust gases.

 

The 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel serves more than 200 private facilities and eight public terminals, in industries from petrochemicals and heavy machinery to consumer goods and energy. In a report released earlier this year, the USACE recognized the channel as the busiest waterway in the United States, handling approximately 12% of the nation's total waterborne tonnage. The Houston Ship Channel supports 3.37 million jobs nationwide and generates $906 billion in annual economic activity in the United States according to a 2022 third-party economic impact study.

 

Project 11 is expected to generate massive additional economic benefits to the region. A draft study by the Perryman Group estimates that by 2040, Segment 1 of Project 11 alone will generate $60.95 billion in statewide economic benefit and add 440,665 jobs in Texas. Port Houston anticipates publishing the study when it is finalized.

Based on Project 11 improvements and the experience gained through multiple research initiatives and full mission bridge simulations, the Houston Pilots have revised their Navigation Safety Guidelines.

 

These revisions are expected to deliver measurable efficiency gains for all users of the Houston Ship Channel including LPG carriers, oil and product tankers, bulkers, and container ships.

 

Among the key benefits, daylight restricted vessels now have up to an additional two and a half hours to transit into and out of port each day, allowing for more time for two-way vessel movements along the waterway and improving flexibility for both inbound and outbound scheduling. These enhancements not only increase the operational efficiency of individual vessels but also create system-wide benefits by smoothing vessel traffic across a broader time window. As a result, harbour assist tug and dock operations are expected to experience greater predictability, reduced congestion, and improved asset utilization.

 

The planning of Project 11 began in 2010, when Port Houston leadership, working with Congress and the USACE, recognized the need to widen and deepen the channel to more safely and efficiently accommodate the growth in the size of vessels transiting it. In the years since then, the Port Houston team accelerated the project by working in parallel versus typical sequential steps related to specific federal authorizations. The result: this project and its benefits are being realized sooner than typical for almost any project of this scope.

 

The Houston Ship Channel Expansion Project 11 has been honoured with multiple awards, including the 2025 Environmental Excellence Award from the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) and the 2025 Texas American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA).

 

The USACE will lead the remaining portions of the project, which are scheduled to be completed in 2029 and will generate further benefits along the channel.

Stretching from the Turning Basin to a few miles downstream, the multi-purpose cargo facilities have been serving the needs of customers since the opening in 1914, of the 52-mile-long Houston Ship Channel, the Turning Basin became the head of navigation and would lead the way in Houston trade commerce. The port’s multi-purpose, breakbulk, and general cargo facilities have been serving the Houston region since its foundation and has continuously delivered stellar service and operations. On 29 April last year, the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met for its regular monthly meeting. Chairman Ric Campo opened the meeting with an announcement that the Houston Ship Channel is once again ranked the number one waterway in the US, according to a recent report by the USACE.

 

An incredible 309.5 million short tons of cargo moved through the Ship Channel in 2023, which is the most recent available data, reflecting a 5.3% increase in total tonnage from the previous year and far more cargo than any other port in the nation. In fact, volumes along the Houston Ship Channel are so large that the tonnage gap between Houston and the second-ranked port is larger than 97% of ports in the country.

 

“This ranking reinforces just how vital the Houston Ship Channel is for our region and for the entire nation,” said Chairman Campo. “More than three million jobs depend on our Channel, and at Port Houston, it’s our job to protect this asset. With our Channel expansion project, known as Project 11, we are helping ensure this critical waterway remains open, safe, and competitive for decades to come.”

 

Chairman Campo also commented on the current tariff situation. “We are, like everyone, analysing the data and assessing the situation. Tariffs would impact our own expenses at Port Houston, including our STS crane purchases. We support the end goal of strengthening domestic manufacturing and encourage the administration to work with our industry to develop a path forward that minimizes unintended consequences on American workers, exporters and consumers.”

 

Earlier in the month, Charlie Jenkins met with Congressman Mike Collins, representative from Georgia and Chair of the Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. They discussed the future of the Houston Ship Channel and its importance to the national economy, as well as how to improve the laws promoting maritime transportation and infrastructure. The relationship is particularly important as it is related to the WRDA bill, legislation that instructs the USACE on the intent of Congress and outlines priorities.

 

Today, there are many different facilities that help commerce flow through the Houston Ship Channel. Turning Basin Terminal, Care Terminal, Jacintoport Terminal, Manchester Terminal, Sims Bayou Terminal, Southside Wharves, Bulk Materials Handling Plant, and Public Grain Elevator No. 2 all help Port Houston continue to be the area’s largest breakbulk, steel, and project cargo complex in North America.

Each facility is uniquely designed to handle a wide range of cargo types and customer needs; from grain to steel to heavy lift project cargo to wind turbines and blades. Houston is the national leader for breakbulk cargo in part due to the large laydown areas located adjacent to the general cargo and heavy lift docks. Details of the terminals that handle bulk/breakbulk cargoes are below.

The Andersons – Woodhouse Grain Elevator (Grains): founded by Harold Anderson in 1947. He believed, as the company still does today, that it should be as easy as possible for farmers to take grain to market. It should be easy for all customers, in all markets, to do business with the company. It is committed to serving customers with uncompromising integrity, loyalty and respect. The Andersons is still headquartered in Maumee, Ohio.

More than 75 years later, it owns more than 50 grain terminals in 11 states as well as Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada, with a total grain storage capacity of more than 290 million bushels. Its grain facilities accept corn, soybean, wheat, oats, and more commodities. It also has food grade and non-food grade grain and agronomy facilities which has allowed it to diversify its business.

In addition to operating its own grain facilities, The Andersons provides services to the ethanol industry through plant management, corn origination, and the marketing of distiller dried grains (DDGS) and ethanol marketing. Its core competencies in risk management can be extended to help optimize the return on ethanol investments. It has origination and/or marketing agreements in place at several ethanol facilities throughout the Midwest.

Kinder Morgan – Bulk Plant (petcoke): located on the Greens Bayou; storage capacity: 600,000 tonnes; annual tonnage: 5,250,000 tonnes; design system rate: 20,000 tonnes per day petcoke loading. The facility is owned by the Port of Houston and is operated by Kinder Morgan for long-term, dedicated customers.

Marine service is via two docks; one ship (40' MLW) and one barge (20' MLW) accessible by the Greens Bayou. Highway access from Interstate 10 and Beltway 8, rail access from Port Terminal Railroad Association (PTRA); Local switching for UP /BNSF. Terminal services include rail to storage (unit trains); barge to storage; vessel to storage; storage to vessel; major features; unit train car dump; conveyor to/ from storage; multiple storage locations with dust suppression.