BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A plan to deepen the main channel of the Mississippi River to 50 feet (15 meters) from a Louisiana city to the Gulf of Mexico has won a critical endorsement from the Army Corps of Engineers.
News outlets report James Dalton with the corps concluded the increase from Baton Rouge to the Gulf will result in average annual benefits of upward of $100 million to the nation’s economy, compared to average annual costs of $17.7 million. The project will deepen the main shipping channel an extra five feet (1.5 meters) where needed along about 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the river.
The final proposal must be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget and Congress. Congress must include funding for the project in its fiscal year 2019 budget.
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