Posted on March 20, 2018
Just five port-related grants totalling US$72.7m have been awarded in Round 9 of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) programme.
41 projects were awarded grants in total, but the five port-related grants, of which only two went to marine port authorities from 40 port authority applications submitted, represented only 14.54% of the nearly US$500m available.
Kurt Nagle, American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) president and CEO, said: “TIGER grants are one of the few federal funding programs available to public port authorities to help them pay for critical infrastructure to move and handle freight more efficiently.
“While we’re pleased there were a few port-related projects included in the ninth round of TIGER grants just announced, we’re disappointed there weren’t more.”
He added: “Projects that aid the movement of goods through America’s ports should be a high priority for these federal grants, and port-related projects should be among the leading candidates.”
Historically underfunded
Since TIGER’s first round in fiscal 2009, port-related infrastructure projects haven’t secured more than 14.6% of available funding. AAPA has consistently called for port-related projects to receive at least 25% of the grant total. It has also identified $66bn in federal port-related infrastructure investments over the next 10 years.
The five port-related grant recipients include Alabama State Port Authority, which will use $12.7m to convert an abandoned bulk handling facility at the Port of Mobile into a roll-on/roll-off mobile vehicle processing facility.
Louisiana’s St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District will receive US$13m to rehabilitate to modern design standards its last two original wharf sections, while Baltimore County, Maryland, will receive US$20m for the Mid-Atlantic Multi-Modal Transportation Hub to build cargo-handling facilities.
Source: PortStrategy
