$1.3 Billion Port Tampa Bay Deepening And Development Plan
Tampa Bay's shipping channel is getting its first deepening in about 50 years, and Patrick Blair of Port Tampa Bay joins Garrett Greco to explain what the $1.3 billion Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Project means for the cost of goods, gas and building materials across the region. He walks through how the Army Corps of Engineers will take the channel from 43 to 47 feet, why the work stays inside the existing footprint, and where the dredged rock and sand will go, from Egmont Key to 60 new acres at Eastport. Patrick also covers the port's next cruise terminal on the old banana docks site, the traffic plan around Channelside, why the port is running out of land, and how much of Florida's fuel comes in through Port Tampa Bay. It's for anyone who follows Tampa development, waterfront growth, or where the gas, cement and road base around them actually comes from. Patrick Blair is vice president of engineering at Port Tampa Bay, where he oversees permitting, construction, engineering and maintenance. He served four years in the Army, earned his engineering degree, and worked as a structural consultant designing mid-rise buildings in St. Petersburg before joining the port in 2010. 0:00 The Harbor Deepening Project 2:45 How Hydraulic Dredging Works 13:35 Creating and Permitting New Land 26:45 Expanding Cruise Capacity 31:22 The Waterfront Master Plan 37:59 Fuel, Tenants, and Neighbors 45:43 Traffic and the Riverwalk 50:26 Running the Port's Engineering 1:03:22 Dredge Material and Funding 1:15:48 Economic Payoff of Deepening
