Facility Expansion: Georgia, Philadelphia

Georgia Ports: Funding for Rail Project in Savannah and Vehicle Procession Expansion at Brunswick

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) board of directors at its November 21 meeting approved $4.27 million for the Savannah Multimodal Connector, a rail project pivotal to expanding GPA's service frontier westward.

Set for completion in 2020, the $140-million project will double rail lift capacity to 1.0 million containers annually. It will enable Garden City Terminal to handle additional 10,000-foot long unit trains, while reducing impact on nearby communities.

The multimodal connector will play a key role in GPA's Mid-American Arc initiative, which will expand rail service between Garden City Terminal and an arc of cities ranging from Memphis through St. Louis and Chicago to the Ohio Valley.

At that same meeting, the board approved the expenditure of $15.5 million to develop an additional 85 acres for vehicle processing at Colonel's Island Terminal. Brunswick is one of America’s leading auto handling ports, with throughput in FY 2016 topping 600,000 units for the fourth consecutive year.

"I would like to thank Chairman Allgood and our entire board for the approvals today for our facilities in Savannah and Brunswick," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "These moves position the authority to grow with existing port users, and to provide turnkey operations for potential customers."

Governor Wolf Announces $300 Million Investment for Port of Philadelphia to Double Container Capacity, Create Jobs

More than $300 million is earmarked for infrastructure, warehousing, and equipment at the Port of Philadelphia through a Capital Investment Program announced November 22 by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

"This capital investment program will give the Port of Philadelphia the tools it needs to improve its competitive position and create thousands of family-sustaining, middle class jobs while increasing state revenues," said Governor Wolf. "With its major economic impacts throughout the state, my administration understands the value of Pennsylvania’s port asset in Philadelphia."

The program will benefit three of the port’s busiest sectors Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, the Port’s automobile-handling operation, and Tioga Marine Terminal.

About $200 million will go to Packer Avenue Marine Terminal for improvements that include four new electric post-Panamax container cranes, the relocation of warehouses and construction of new ones, and deepening berths to match the new 45-foot depth of the Delaware River’s main channel. Electrical upgrades throughout the terminal will support electrification of existing diesel cranes and cold ironing for berthed vessels.

Packer Avenue tenant Astro Holdings, Inc., will purchase one of the post-Panamax container cranes for the terminal, and will dedicate the adjoining Holt-owned 40-acre "Publicker" site to containers.

The improvements will boost the terminal’s container handling capacity from 400,000 to 900,000 TEUs annually. Future expansion to more than 1.2 million TEUs is possible. Actual throughput in 2015 totaled 427,630 TEUs.

About $90 million from the Capital Investment program will go to the port’s Automobile Import/Export facility, which currently processes approximately 150,000 imported Kia and Hyundai vehicles annually and employs more than 300 workers. Planned improvements include the addition of 155 paved and fenced acres above flood plain at the port’s Southport site, conversion of a former seaplane hangar at Southport into a second auto-processing site, and enhancements to the main auto-processing site at Pier 98 Annex. Plans call for a framework that provides flexibility for use of the land for containers and automobiles, as determined by market demand.

About $12 million will be invested at Tioga Marine Terminal for improvements to the main on-dock warehouse that has been handling and processing Brazilian wood pulp cargoes since 2014. A second warehouse at Tioga will be converted to a food-grade facility for wood pulp. Improved rail access and the purchase of a second mobile harbor crane will beef up terminal capacity.

A projected result of the state’s investment is a 70 percent increase in "direct jobs" to 5,378 from the current level of 3,124. Other projections point to increases in total port employment (from 10,341 to 17,020) and in state and local tax revenues attributable to port activity (from $69.6 million to $108.4 million annually).

An aggressive, "shovels in the ground" schedule calls for work to get underway next year.