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            The Port of Baltimore
          
        
        
          ■
        
        
          January/February 2014
        
        
        
          
            BY THE NUMBERS
          
        
        
          Handling Dredged
        
        
          Materials to Maintain
        
        
          Shipping Lanes
        
        
          T
        
        
          he Maryland Port
        
        
          Administration (MPA)
        
        
          announced in January that it
        
        
          is seeking ideas
        
        
          from the private
        
        
          sector about
        
        
          how to convert
        
        
          material dredged
        
        
          from Baltimore
        
        
          Harbor shipping
        
        
          channels into an
        
        
          environmentally
        
        
          safe aggregate used in the
        
        
          construction/building industries.
        
        
          “Without properly maintained
        
        
          shipping channels, the huge ships
        
        
          of today and supersized ones of
        
        
          tomorrow could not safely travel
        
        
          to and from the Port,” said MPA
        
        
          Executive Director
        
        
          James J. White
        
        
          .
        
        
          “By seeking the expertise from
        
        
          private industry, we can potentially
        
        
          increase our [dredged material]
        
        
          placement options by creating
        
        
          an environmentally beneficial
        
        
          product.”
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
          
            NEWSMAKERS
          
        
        
          Former U.S. Deputy Transportation
        
        
          Secretary Enters Private Sector
        
        
          J
        
        
          ohn D. Porcari
        
        
          , who served as Maryland
        
        
          Transportation Secretary from 2007-
        
        
          2009, resigned his position as U.S.
        
        
          Deputy Secretary of Transportation on Dec.
        
        
          27 to go to work in the private sector. Porcari,
        
        
          54, actually served two stints as Maryland’s
        
        
          Transportation Secretary, first for the
        
        
          Glendening Administration and then in January
        
        
          2007 as part of the O’Malley Administration.
        
        
          Porcari has joined the multinational
        
        
          engineering and design firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff.
        
        
          Soundings
        
        
        
        
        
        
          
            ith
          
        
        
        
          
            nal
          
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
          
            e
          
        
        
        
          
            n
          
        
        
        
        
          50
        
        
          The depth
        
        
          (in feet) of
        
        
          the shipping
        
        
          channel that
        
        
          allows the Port
        
        
          of Baltimore to be one of only two
        
        
          ports on the U.S. East Coast currently
        
        
          able to handle large, super-post-
        
        
          Panamax ships coming through the
        
        
          Panama Canal.
        
        
          The nickname for a public-private
        
        
          partnership such as the one being explored
        
        
          by the MPA for taking material away
        
        
          from the Cox Creek Dredged Material
        
        
          Containment Facility and converting it into
        
        
          a lightweight building aggregate.
        
        
          
            P3
          
        
        
          that make up the Cox
        
        
          Creek Dredged Material
        
        
          Containment Facility,
        
        
          which receives about
        
        
          500,000 cubic yards of
        
        
          dredged material annually.
        
        
          
            102
          
        
        
          ACRES
        
        
          
            2015
          
        
        
          The year when construction of
        
        
          the expanded Panama Canal
        
        
          is expected to be completed.
        
        
          cubic yards of
        
        
          material that must
        
        
          be dredged from
        
        
          Baltimore Harbor
        
        
          each year.
        
        
          
            1.5 MILLION