Port needs deeper channel, focus on cement

The financially troubled Port of Sacramento’s best chance of survival is a deeper channel and a concentration on building up its cement cargo traffic, according to a study released Friday.  The study, a 109-page document done by Parsons Brinckerhoff Ports & Marine Inc., said a deepened channel to the Bay Area -- something port officials have long said they want -- is key to the long-term financial survival of the port.

But the West Sacramento facility hasn’t managed to raise the 25 percent local funding match needed to get federal money for the job, which entails dredging the entire Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel to a depth of 35 feet. Only seven miles are that deep now; the rest is 30 feet.