The Port of Savannah, the nation’s fastest growing port and fourth largest container port, handles 80 percent of the ship-borne cargo entering Georgia.  Georgia DOT is the local sponsor for the Savannah Harbor.  As local sponsor, Georgia DOT is responsible for:

• Providing easements and rights-of-way for upland disposal areas
• Providing 35% of the cost required to raise the dikes at the upland disposal areas in the Savannah Harbor

Savannah Harbor Expansion Project

Georgia DOT provides technical expertise to support the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP).  This project will provide the following benefits:

• Create more than 11,000 jobs in the Southeast and nationally
• Reduce shipping costs by $213 million a year
• Provide $282 million in annual net benefits
• Yield a $7.30 return for each dollar invested

The expanded harbor will accommodate larger vessels that are the new standard in global shipping.

Specializing in automobile importing, Brunswick handles nearly all of Georgia’s remaining shipping traffic. The Georgia Department of Transportation became the local sponsor for the Brunswick Harbor on April 5, 2002.

As local sponsor, Georgia DOT is responsible for:

• Providing easements and rights-of-way for upland disposal areas
• Providing 35% of the cost required to raise the dikes at Andrews Island, which is the main upland disposal area in the Brunswick Harbor.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) extends 137 miles through Georgia from the Florida state line to the South Carolina state line. Georgia DOT provides land for the 98 upland disposal areas used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain the waterway in Georgia.