A ceremony was held Saturday to mark the expansion of the 400-foot-wide ship channel at Texas City, located 40 miles southeast of Houston. The work increased the depth of the waterway from 40 feet to 45 feet.
Federal stimulus funds paid for the 18-month project, along with money from several companies that operate refineries along the Texas coast and use ships to transport cargo.
Dredging crews in January recovered four inert cannonballs. Experts say a cannon recovered last November is from the USS Westfield, a Civil War gunboat scuttled during the 1863 Battle of Galveston.
