Georgia's port chief and Washington lawmakers said Friday they're confident a $652 million plan to deepen the busy shipping channel to the Port of Savannah will soon clear its last bureaucratic hurdle after 15 years of studies and delays.

Georgia officials have been waiting since October for the House and Senate to reach a compromise on a sweeping water-projects bill expected to eliminate an outdated spending cap on the Savannah harbor expansion. House and Senate negotiators announced a deal Thursday night. The compromise was expected to win easy approval in both chambers before the end of May.

The Obama administration has said a $459 million spending cap placed on the Savannah project in 1999 — which is $193 million below current cost estimates — must be changed before the federal government can sign a final cost-sharing agreement with Georgia officials. That agreement would allow dredging of the Savannah River channel to begin using $266 million in state funding Georgia has already set aside.

"To me it's massively huge that this step looks like it's about to conclude," said Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority. "It's clear from the administration that until this step was accomplished, we were all going to be here sitting on our hands."

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