In 2015, the US Army Corps of Engineers approved a new phase of expansion for Port Everglades with the deepening and widening of the port's channels. The project received federal authorization in December 2016 under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. The port served ships from Europe and South America that were too large to fit through the Panama Canal, but the ships still had to be under a certain load to fit properly in the port. The expansion was planned to increase main navigational channels from to , and to deepen and widen both the Entrance Channel and parts of the Intracoastal Waterway. The project was planned to be completed in 2028, create approximately 4,789 construction jobs and 1,491 direct jobs locally, and cost $509.6 million.