SPI Insights

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration has chosen 41 port projects to share a record $703 million in the latest round of its Port Infrastructure Development grants program. The funds are spread among 22 states and American Samoa.

More than 60 percent of the grants announced will go to ports in historically disadvantaged communities, and more than $150 million will help reduce emissions through electrification, according to the USDOT. Alaska received the largest dollar amount – $112.5 million for four separate projects. It also won the largest single grant, $68.7 million, for reconfiguring and realigning the shoreline at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage.

The port awards include nearly $100 million for offshore wind development projects. The White House has set a goal of deploying enough offshore wind by 2030 to power 10 million homes.

Texas will receive the following grants:

• City of Beaumont – Container on Barge Infrastructure Project, $26.4 million. This project includes two components: The “Lot 6 Project” will involve strengthening a 400-foot section of dock area to support heavy loads. The “Lot 14B Paving Project” will include design and installation of a 26.14-acre container marshalling yard and hard-surfaced laydown area.
• City of Matagorda – Port of Palacios Energy & Resilience Improvement Project, $10 million. This funds the rehabilitation of the bulkhead and vessel berthing areas in Turning Basins 1 and 2, including the repair or replacement of roughly 5,600 feet of bulkhead and installation of approximately 20 vessel-to-shore power stations with multiple outlets to serve several vessels at once. The rehabilitation will make the facilities more resilient to the effects of natural disasters and sea level rise.
• City of Harlingen – Dock Repair and Renovation Project, $4 million. This project will renovate the Port of Harlingen’s main dock and related facilities. Work includes repairs to or replacement of the timber fendering system, timber rails, steel sheet pile bulkhead, steel anchor rods that hold the bulkhead in place, deteriorated concrete deck in multiple locations, mooring piles and related structures, and a mechanical winch operator and cable. In addition, the project will demolish, excavate, dewater, and re-compact critical uplands areas.