NewsCastle
Los Angeles District
Vol . 43 No . 5 A monthly publication of the Los Angeles District of the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers May 2013
Col . Mark Toy , commander of the Los Angeles District , and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa address members of the media , local elected officials , and other stakeholders during a press briefing marking the completion of the 10-year project . ( Photo by David A . Salazar )
District completes POLA project
Greg Fuderer
LOS ANGELES – Standing on the fantail of the USS Iowa , dignitaries watched as a dredge lifted the final bucket of material from the water and emptied it into an adjacent barge , marking the end of a $ 370 million channel deepening project at the Port of Los Angeles April 3 .
“ This project is the latest mutual effort in a partnership that began in the late 19th Century , where the very first project undertaken by the newly-formed Los Angeles District was to construct the San Pedro breakwater ( at the port ),” Col . Mark Toy , Los Angeles District Commander , told guests at the ceremony aboard the decommissioned U . S . Navy battleship .
Since that beginning more than 100 years ago , the Port and the Corps have worked together on numerous projects to ensure safe navigation and the expansion of dock facilities that are necessary for the port to maintain its status as one of--if not the--most important maritime facilities in the nation .
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony .
“ This project was important to us because we understand that in order to compete with ports in the United States and around the world , we ’ ve got to make investments ,” Villaraigosa said . “ And we ’ ve made $ 1.3 billion in investments and some 20,000 jobs to make sure we ’ re competitive .”
To remain competitive in the global shipping industry , the port invests billions of dollars in port and shipping infrastructure , the mayor said . The 10-year project removed 15 million cubic yards of material , enough to fill Dodgers Stadium twice over , and employed 880 people around the clock .
“ The Port of LA is officially big-ship-ready ,” Villaraigosa proclaimed .
“ It ’ s important to note that when we say we ’ ve got to compete with ( the Panama Canal ), Panama will not be able to handle some of the ships of the size that we will with this dredging of the main channel , so we ’ re excited and we ’ re ready ,” he said . “ But don ’ t think for a moment that this is the end of the line . We ’ re going to continue to make the investments to stay competitive and to make sure that this Port remains the pre-eminent port complex in the United States .”
Throughout the project , the Corps , Port and other partners adapted to changes in personnel , laws , funding and other issues .
— see POLA , Page 2 —