2 Years After Near-$1 Billion Project, Time and Tides Threaten Port of Savannah’s Viability

Georgia Congressional delegation, Gov. Brian Kemp call for federal study on deepening lower Savannah River to allow massive ships into Southeast’s busiest port.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, center, speaks during a visit to the Port of Savannah with U.S. Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), center left, Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), left, and Mike Collins, (R-Ga.,) center left, at the Georgia Port Authority's Garden City Terminal, March, 25, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. Georgia Port Authority via AP

Sorry to dredge it up again, but the lower Savannah River needs to be dredged up ... again.

Eighteen months after completing a 25-year, $973 million expansion that deepened its ship channel by 5 feet and two years to the day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp hailed the massive project as a “once-in-a-generation milestone,” time and tides threaten to make the bustling port a backwater in years to come.