The Sabine-Neches Navigation District was established in 1909 and is the third largest waterway in the United States.  This ship channel is a vital "highway" through which more than 125 million tons of cargo is transported each year.  That cargo includes natural gas, crude oil, gasoline, jet fuel, chemicals, steel, lumber, grain and many other products.

 

The navigation district is responsible for cost sharing and managing the maintenance of the ship channel.  They operate the salt-water barriers which protect over 59 thousand acres of marshlands.  It oversees 11 thousand acres of development property between Beaumont and the coast.  The ship channel is 70 miles in length running from the Port of Beaumont out into the Gulf of Mexico.  It serves the third largest refining capacity in the country, the second largest liquid bulk capacity and is first in jet and military fuel.  The Port of Beaumont is the largest military outload port in the US.  Upon completion of the Exxon-Mobil plant expansion in Beaumont, the ship channel will be the transport waterway for the largest refining capacity in the country.  With the recent completion and operation of the Cheniere LNG plant, the ship channel currently handles 85% of the LNG exports from the US.  It also handles 24% of the nation's crude oil exports.

 

In 2003, a study was begun to deepen the channel from the current 40-feet depth that was completed in 1962.  After years of engineering, environmental impact and economic feasibility studies, the project has been approved to deepen the channel to 48 feet to match the depth of the Panama Canal and allow access to ships with a capacity of 750 thousand barrels versus the current 500 thousand barrel capacity.  Total cost of the project is estimated to be $1.2 billion, 75% funded by the federal government and 25% funded by the navigation district.  The construction is expected to take six years, and work on Phase One of the project, which involves construction of two turning basins, is expected to begin in the fall of this year.  Phase Two of the project involves dredging of the channel, which will produce 90 million cubic yards of fill. The fill will be pumped into containment areas along the river, which have a total capacity of 417 million cubic yards.

 

As late as 2015, the navigation district was primarily a net import waterway.  With the approval from the government to export crude and the beginning of operations from the Cheniere LNG facility, the waterway has become an export surplus waterway meaning import/export revenue surplus has grown from $11.6 billion in 2016 to $30.2 billion in 2018.  The trade surplus is expected to continue growing dramatically to as much as $53.2 billion in 2026.