Post-Panamax megaships can now navigate between Brooklyn and Staten Island to deliver cargo to the Port of New York and New Jersey thanks to infrastructure work recently completed below the water.

The $2.1 billion Harbor Deepening Program, initiated by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey (PANYNJ) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, called for a 54-foot-deep trench to be dredged in Anchorage Channel to accommodate the huge new cargo ships that dominate world trade.

Unfortunately, the proposed trench would collide with two vital water siphons that provide fresh water to Staten Island.

To address the problem WSP, in joint venture, was engaged by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to manage the construction of a single new tunnel and water main to replace the two existing pipes that run between Brooklyn and Staten Island parallel to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

“The Port is the third largest in the U.S. and receives goods for 23 million people in the region annually,” said Ray Moran, WSP’s project manager. “Goods can now arrive at the Port’s six terminals by travelling through the Anchorage Channel, and this journey is possible due to some major infrastructure improvements below the water.”