SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Ports Authority's top executive says a cost-sharing agreement needed to start work on a $706 million deepening of the waterway to the Port of Savannah should be finished within two weeks.

Curtis Foltz, the ports authority's executive director, said Monday he still hopes dredging of the Savannah River shipping channel connecting the port to the Atlantic Ocean can begin before the year ends. The agreement with the federal government will allow construction to start with Georgia using its $266 million share of the project cost upfront, with federal money expected later.

Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Billy Birdwell says once the deal is signed, awarding contracts could take two to three months. He said starting construction by New Year's would be "ambitious" but not impossible.