Port of Long Beach Plans $3 billion Expansion (USA)

To stay competitive, the Port is planning more than $3 billion in upgrades, including a new container terminal, improvements for an existing terminal, redevelopment and consolidation of two older terminals, the replacement of an obsolete bridge and upgraded rail infrastructure.

Topping the Port’s development achievements in 2009 was the go-ahead in April for the Middle Harbor Project — a model for our Port of the Future. The long-planned $1 billion project will redevelop two existing older terminals into a more efficient and environmentally friendly operation. The Middle Harbor redevelopment project will create a facility capable of handling twice as much cargo (up to 3.3 million TEUs a year) while cutting air pollution in half from current levels. This will be possible because ships will use shore power, and the facility will feature a greatly expanded rail yard, clean cargohandling equipment and other advanced technologies under the Port’s Green Port Policy and Clean Air Action Plan initiatives.Construction is set to begin in late 2010.

An $800 million project for International Transportation Service (ITS) is now underway at Pier G to improve facilities, clean the air and support thousands of jobs. Ocean carrier “K” Line and its subsidiary, ITS, now have a second deep-water berth so that newer, larger, cleaner vessels can dock there. The new berth provides shore power, allowing ships to plug into electricity at berth and shut down their diesel engines, cutting air pollution to zero. The “K” Line vessel Long Beach Bridge was the first ship in the Port of Long Beach to plug into shore power.The first phase of the 10-year project was completed in late 2008, making way for the kickoff of new construction in 2009.

In 2009, the Port moved forward with plans to develop vacant property at Pier S into a modern, state-of-the-art shipping facility. The $650 million Pier S terminal development project calls for a new 160- acre facility on an area of Terminal Island that was formerly an oil field. The project also proposes improvements to the Back Channel waterway to increase navigational safety. The soil has been cleaned up at Port expense, and now it is paved and ready for construction.The Notice of Preparation “scoping” meetings to gather initial public input on the project are complete, and the Port is finalizing the draft Environmental Impact Report for release in 2010.

The Port of Long Beach is proposing a $1.1 billion project to replace the aging, obsolete Gerald Desmond Bridge with a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge to ease congestion and improve safety. This is important both for truckers and commuters on the bridge and the ships and people working below it. The Gerald Desmond Bridge is of national significance. Roughly 15 percent of the goods coming into this country move across it.In 2009, the Port prepared the draft Environmental Impact Report for release in early 2010 with hearings scheduled to allow the public to comment on the report. Funding for the new bridge would come from a mix of Port funds, state bonds and federal funds.

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Source: Port of Long Beach, July 21, 2010