Port of Terrebonne Chugging Along

Many Mouths to Feed
May 15, 2019
Melaco Sisters Aims to Serve Community It Loves
May 15, 2019
Many Mouths to Feed
May 15, 2019
Melaco Sisters Aims to Serve Community It Loves
May 15, 2019

DIRECTOR SAYS ECONOMY STILL REELING, BUT THERE’S HOPE FORA BRIGHTER FUTURE

The local economy has just been in a bit of a rut — unable to fully shake back to its normal self now several years running.


We all know this by now.

But there are signs of progress at the Port of Terrebonne and Executive Director David Rabalais said he’s hopeful that tomorrow will be brighter than today.

Expansion has been the story of the past 12 months at the port with several projects on the books — including some which will be completed by the end of the calendar year.


Rabalais said he’s proud of how the port has pushed forward in recent years in the face of the slow economy, adding that lately, there have been signs of light at the end of the tunnel.

“(The economy) is still sluggish,” Rabalais said. “But it’s better than last year. And I believe that we will see growth in the next several years. Just how much, I’m not sure.”

But there is still growth in the present, indeed.


Rabalais said in the past 12 months, “things have started picking up.”

He said the port is currently performing two expansions for port tenants utilizing the Port Priority Program administered through DOTD.

“Both expansions will be completed before year’s end,” Rabalais said.


The port is also working aggressively with the General Services Administration (GSA) to expanded the U.S. Customs lease at the port and their presence in Terrebonne Parish.

Rabalais said work is also continuing and on-going with the Houma Navigation Canal.

“The port remains active with Houma Navigation Canal maintenance and deepening issues and constantly pursuing grants and ways to leverage dollars earned to promote economic growth in Terrebonne Parish,” Rabalais said.


The fight to stay out in front of the changes in the Houma Navigation Canal are never-ending.

Rabalais said the HNC is a federally authorized channel and the “main artery” to Terrebonne Parish’s economy.

He said that artery only flows when the canal stays at its authorized depth of 15 feet.


“We have a very resilient industry in Terrebonne Parish, This area pioneered marine fabrication and repair as well as the fabrication and installation of large manufactured structures for the oil and gas industry. This region taught the rest of the world how to fabricate and operate in the oil and gas industry and companies worldwide recognize the craftsmanship of this region and the region competes very well with the rest of the nation.”

– Executive Director David Rabalais

“The shallower the channel gets, the number of vessels that can’t get in grows larger,” Rabalais said. “Some boat owners refuse to bring vessels in the HNC because of past problems that they encountered. Every time a vessel drags bottom, it scrapes the paint off the bottom, bends rudders and damagers thrusters which cost boat owners a lot of unnecessary dollars.”

So why is it so hard to keep the canal at 15-feet deep at all locations?

Well, that’s complex and is part of the never-ending fight Rabalais and his staff have to deal with.


He said it centers around where the canal is located.

The HNC is a 36-mile long federally authorized channel and it traverses from the Intercoastal Waterway (ICWW) to the Gulf of Mexico.

The final 10 miles of the canal traverses through Terrebonne Bay, which is 10-foot deep. The barrier islands to the east of the HNC erode and the silt migrates to the west with the predominant winds blowing out to the east.


This silt finds its way to the bottom of the HNC, which shallows the canal and often makes it dangerous for ships.

Rabalais likened it to a tunnel or a bridge. If a bridge’s clearance is 15 feet, any truck below 15 feet in height can pass safely — literally every day.

But because the HNC is always changing, some businesses don’t take the chance, and that, in turn, hurts the local economy.


“The depth changes every month in Terrebonne Bay,” Rabalais said.

There are solutions to fix the problem — sort of an easy way and a hard way.

The easy way, Rabalais said, would be if a barrier reef were built to the east of the channel in Timbalier Bay, which would catch that silt and rebuild those islands and/or preventing them from migrating west into the HNC.


But that takes government funds and lots of money, so the hard way is constant dredging — which is what the Port of Terrebonne has been doing for the past several years.

Rabalais said local leaders have worked tirelessly to support the port and millions have flowed in to help.

In 2018, the HNC had $9.5 million to spend on maintenance. In 2019, there is $4 million budgeted, $2.2 million left over from previous years and a $2 million state allocation.


“The status today with the maintenance budget is a testament of how hard our federal delegation has worked in the past several years,” Rabalais said. “And our state delegation has also recognized that the work we lose when the channel is deficient hurts the state’s economy.”

The ultimate goal, Rabalais said, would be to get a deepening study/barrier reef project placed in a WRDA Bill, though it’s not yet known if there will be one in 2020.

So until then, the port waits and does what it can with the resources it has in place.


Rabalais said he’s proud of the progress made and also with how the industry has evolved around the port to stay afloat amidst tough economic times and stiff environmental challenges.


“We have a very resilient industry in Terrebonne Parish,” Rabalais said. “This area pioneered marine fabrication and repair as well as the fabrication and installation of large manufactured structures for the oil and gas industry. This region taught the rest of the world how to fabricate and operate in the oil and gas industry and companies worldwide recognize the craftsmanship of this region and the region competes very well with the rest of the nation.”

BY CASEY GISCLAIR