Out of This World

Video by Marisa Gaona, Desiree Kapler

Port of Long Beach Ship Simulation Study - Unbranded

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center

Dec. 17, 2024 | 4:51

The Port of Long Beach, California, is the second busiest port in the United States. It handles more than nine-million 20-foot container units each year with cargo valued at $200 billion. Yet existing channel dimensions and tidal delays pose limitations and inefficiencies for current and future deep draft vessel traffic. To navigate the port complex, these larger vessels must carry a lighter load from their point of origin, which ultimately increases the nation’s transportation costs by requiring more ships to move cargo into and out of the complex.

In 2016, Port of Long Beach officials began to address these constraints and sought federal assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District to conduct a deep draft navigation feasibility study of the port to widen and deepen its navigation channel.

To test its proposed channel design improvements, District project engineers reached out to the U.S. Army’s Watercraft and Ship Simulator, headquartered at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to run ship simulations with pilots from the Port of Long Beach.

The feasibility study was completed in 2021 and included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. The project is now in the pre-construction engineering design phase, and Los Angeles District project engineers have once again sought out ERDC’s expertise in ship simulation to help verify the navigability and safety of the selected channel design. Watch to learn more.