Raise the Bridge or Lower the River?

Raise the Bridge or Lower the River?

For the ports of NY and NJ to remain competitive in the super container vessels age we will have to either raise the bridges or lower the river by dredging in order to accommodate the larger vessels. As we move the ships further up into the Atlantic Ocean Ports and Gulf Ports we start to see some new issues arising in doing business in the US. Among the biggest are our highway and waterway infrastructure. Our present highways and waterways leading in and out of our Ports need help. We as a country are trying to figure out how to get out of deficit spending and yet come up with money to repair a deteriorating highway system as well as bridges that are not meeting safety requirements of the Federal government and commercial demand. We must figure out how to pay for highway infrastructures and how we are going to dredge waterways to the 50 foot requirement to handle these new mega ships. Will the ports that have no bridges crossing these entrances to the port have an advantage over ports like NY/NJ? To remain competitive should we be paying to lift the Bayonne bridge spam by 150 feet? That's right, lift the bridge. At least there not building a new one. When you connect all the dots is this mega ship new capacity going to support a less costly product?