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Lake Worth Inlet connects Palm Beach Harbor to the Atlantic Ocean. The port is located in Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida. The Port of Palm Beach is the fourth busiest container portin Florida and the eighteenth busiest in the continental United States. Lake Worth Inlet, serving as theentrance channel to the port, is inadequate both in width and depth, negatively impacting future port potential and creating economic inefficiencies with the current fleet of vessels.
Based on modern vessel sizes, the port is operating with insufficient channel width and depth. These deficiencies cause the local harbor pilots and the U.S. Coast Guard to place restrictions on vessel transit to ensure safety resulting in economic inefficiencies translating into costs to the national economy.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Feasibility Study is currently underway and will determine plans to reduce transportation costs, reduce navigation concerns, and improve safety. The federal objective is to determine the project alternative with the maximum net benefits while protecting or minimizing impacts to the environment.