Port of Brownsville’s $539M project creates one of the Gulf’s deepest channels, allowing larger vessels to call

For the past two decades, Port of Brownsville leaders have tried to make a big investment in the infrastructure that moves ships up and down the channel that connects the port to the open ocean. 

The Gulf Coast in deep South Texas had long been home to one of the nation’s shallowest deepwater ports — until now. A recently completed dredging project deepened the 17-mile-long Brownsville Ship Channel from 42 feet to 52 feet along the main channel and from 44 feet to 54 feet at the entrance channel and jetties.

To make such a large infrastructure project happen, the federal government allocated $68 million, the Port of Brownsville chipped in $71.5 million and a port tenant, Houston-based NextDecade, paid $400 million to dredge and improve the waterway — that’s more than half a billion dollars of investment. The port is also projected to invest $50 million more along the channel shoreline. 

During fiscal year 2025, Port of Brownsville tenants moved 28 million tons of cargo — an increase of 101%  — over the past five years. The Brazos Island Harbor Channel Improvement Project is expected to accelerate that growth. 

“The return on that investment will be measured not only in cargo volumes and vessel traffic, but in economic opportunity, job creation, and a stronger future for Texas,” Port of Brownsville CEO William Dietrich said Thursday, 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District leaders described the public-private partnership as a “national mode” during a celebration of the project’s completion on a dock along the channel on Thursday.

The project was one of four approved by the funding allocated by the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act — otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — under the Joe Biden administration, and the only port project nationwide of its kind. 

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Harlingen, whose district includes the Port of Brownsville, helped secure the federal funding for the project. 

“This deeper, safer federal channel expands our capacity for international trade, strengthens critical energy infrastructure and demonstrates how modern infrastructure can advance both economic security and U.S. energy dominance,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. George H. Walter, commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Southwestern Division, said in a news release. 

By comparison, the Port of Corpus Christi is 54 feet deep and the Port of Houston is 45 feet deep. The Port of New Orleans in Louisiana and the Port of Mobile are both 50 feet deep. The move opens the door for tenants of the Port of Brownsville to receive container vessels, which are among the largest. 

“It’s going to create a lot of new opportunities for the Valley. The deeper you go, the more cargo you can bring in. You can bring in larger and heavier vessels,” Orlando Ramos-Ginés, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer project manager told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. 

NextDecade’s LNG export terminal sits along the port channel and is estimated to be worth more than $30 billion already. The Houston energy company agreed to pay 100% of the dredging and improvement cost for 9 miles of the channel back in 2019. 

Port leaders said that kind of investment was unprecedented in its history for a port tenant. NextDecade’s investment stretches from the western boundary of its Rio Grande LNG site along the ship channel to the gulf. 

“It’s a tremendous achievement. This is something that took a little over 20 years to do,” Sergio Tito Lopez, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District Board, said. “We were stuck with the fact that we didn’t have enough funding capabilities for such a big project. Fortunately for us, NextDecade came up to the plate.” 

NextDecade leases about 984 acres from the Port of Brownsville as part of its 30-year term, which offers it options to renew for 10-year periods. 

On Thursday afternoon, Rio Grande LNG’s parking lot, which sits along Highway 48 between Brownsville and Port Isabel, was full. 

More than 6,000 workers have been working around the clock for the site’s general contractor Bechtel. The federal government recently allowed the project to employee night shifts to speed up construction. 

Demand for LNG — liquefied natural gas — has pushed prices to record highs as the U.S. and Iran continue to fight over the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. The war has stalled vessel traffic for weeks. 

During peak construction, about 7,500 people are expected to work on the site, with about 700 permanent jobs projected for the project. About 70% of the workforce hails from the Rio Grande Valley, according to NextDecade. 

“This collaboration has been critical in moving this project from concept to completion,” NextDecade Chief Operating Officer Tarik Skeik said. “We made this investment because we recognized early on the opportunity this project represents, not just for LNG operations, but the entire region.”