Evaluation of Harbor Deepening Projects

World shipping trends show that large vessels are being progressively commissioned for the transport of commodities such as petroleum, ores, and fertilizers due to the low transportation cost in such carriers. Consequently, the approach channels to the ports are being deepened to accommodate such vessels. Construction of a subsidiary deep-dock system at Haldia at about 57 miles seaward of Calcutta in the state of West Bengal, India, has been taken up to provide access to carriers with 40 ft. draft, principally for the cargoes of crude petroleum and ore. Consequently the navigation channel from the sea to the dock system has to be deepened necessitating a large investment. For the evaluation of such a channel deepening project general equations to determine costs and benefits are developed. The methodology is applied to the evaluation of benefits in the case of the channel to Haldia.