Posted on December 6, 2016
By Robert McCabe, The Virginian-Pilot
With a helping hand from Harrisburg the Port of Philadelphia is upping its game.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced that the state is investing $300 million to boost the port’s facilities, doubling its container capacity by 2020.
About $200 million of the total will enhance the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, the port’s biggest facility, providing for new cranes, the relocation and construction of warehouses, and dredging of terminal berths to 45 feet.
That will be the new depth of the port’s main shipping channel, once a dredging project under way since 2010 is completed next year.
The port’s capacity of about 400,000-plus containers, as measured in standard, 20-foot units, or TEUs, is projected to grow to 900,000 TEUs, adjustable to more than 1.2 million units, with the improvements.
The Port of Virginia’s capacity of about 2.6 million TEUs is expected to grow to about 4.5 million units, with the help of capital projects at its two big terminals.
Early this year, the General Assembly approved a state-backed bond deal providing $350 million for an expansion at Norfolk International Terminals.
In September, state and port officials signed a nearly 50-year lease of the Virginia International Gateway terminal in Portsmouth, which provides for a $320 million expansion that will double its capacity.
Source: The Virginia-Pilot
