Dive Brief:
- The DOT awarded $653 million in grants on Friday to upgrade 41 water-based ports around the country. The funding is through the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which provides planning support, capital funding and project management assistance, and comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- The projects will boost capacity and efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland river ports and enable them to meet greater shipping demands, according to the DOT press release. Supply chain issues were a top concern for builders this year.
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the goal of the projects is to improve port infrastructure so that they can withstand the kinds of shocks seen during the pandemic that snarled supply chains, AP News reported.
Dive Insight:
The nation’s more than 300 coastal and inland ports get a B- grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers, meaning they’re adequate for now but require attention. While port funding has risen in recent years, there is still a gap of over $12 billion for waterside infrastructure such as dredging over the next decade, and billions more are needed for landside port infrastructure, according to ASCE.
The IIJA’s $17 billion total in investments are the country’s largest-ever dedicated funding for ports and waterways, according to the DOT, and are key to strengthening supply chain reliability.
“Modernizing the nation’s port infrastructure is vital to the reinforcement of America’s multimodal system for transporting goods. The advantages of cargo movement on water extend well beyond the maritime domain,” said Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips in the press release.
Some of the projects selected to receive grants include:
- $54.2 million for the Port of Tacoma Husky Terminal Expansion Port One in Tacoma, Washington.
- $52.6 million for the North Harbor Transportation System Improvement Project in Long Beach, California.
- $43.4 million for dock infrastructure replacement in Cold Bay, Alaska.
- $32 million to reconstruct Berth PN-308 at Port Newark in Newark, New Jersey.
- $16 million for the Velasco Terminal Sustainable Expansion Project in Freeport, Texas.
While much of the new money will fund big projects, $172.8 million is dedicated to 26 small ports. Smaller and inland ports have particular difficulty maintaining their infrastructure and competing for federal grants, according to ASCE.
Projects were selected based on their ability to improve the safety, efficiency or reliability of the movement of goods, as well as on how well they would improve port resilience, according to the DOT press release. The full list of awards can be viewed on the DOT’s Maritime Administration page here.
