The Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) has been awarded a $14.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Port Infrastructure Development Program to modernize and expand Port Canaveral’s North Cargo Berth 3.
“This is the largest federal grant ever awarded to Port Canaveral, and we thank Secretary Chao for her commitment to us,” Port CEO Capt. John Murray said.
“We have more demand for our bulkhead than we can currently provide. This funding now gives us the opportunity to aggressively advance the development of our cargo facilities to accommodate growth in key sectors including construction materials and commercial space.”
Port Canaveral’s Cargo Berth Rehabilitation and Modernization project will demolish an existing pier, replacing it with an 880-foot long wharf with the necessary channel width to accommodate larger vessels simultaneously at berth. Built in 1976, NCB3’s design – combined with the increasing size of commercial vessels and growing cargo diversity – has made the berth functionally obsolete.
Port Canaveral’s NCB3 project has a total cost of $37,861,600.
The CPA and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will maximize the leveraging of federal dollars by providing a combined match of $23,761,600 or 63 percent of the total project cost.
This berth rehabilitation and modernization project furthers the DOT’s desire to finance projects that have actively sought to lower the federal dollar amount needed to complete infrastructure projects, said the Port Authority.