Posted on August 14, 2024
The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded a $1.6 million grant to Port Isabel to expand its commercial dock services and terminal operations at the Texas deepwater port near Brownsville.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently announced the award as part of $6.9 million in economic development grants to Texas for workforce training and port improvements. The larger $5.3 million grant will enable a school to transform a former hospital into a career and technical education training center.
“These EDA investments will provide workforce training and business support in Rockdale and Port Isabel, spurring private investment and strengthening the regional economies,” Raimondo said.
The Port Isabel San Benito Navigation District’s $1.6 million federal grant will fund port improvements to enhance berthing capabilities and provide business support. Combined with $399,050 in local matching funds, the project is expected to create or retain 1,000 jobs and generate $1 million in private investment.
At Port Isabel, the entrance to the proposed laydown area. (Port Isabel)
Port Isabel is 22 miles northeast of Brownsville and 35 miles southeast of Harlingen. It is one of 12 deepwater ports in Texas. The Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District was formed in 1929 to reduce transportation costs for fish and agricultural products. The port is 25 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border along the Gulf Coast, close to South Padre Island.
Steven Bearden, port director and general manager of the Navigation District, said Port Isabel is often overshadowed by the much larger Port of Brownsville, its inland partner. Through the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Texas, Port Isabel can serve areas from Corpus Christi to St. Louis and Chicago.
The new funds will allow the Navigation District to expand services through its principal commercial dock and terminal operator, Port Isabel Logistical Offshore Terminal Inc. (PILOT).
PILOT primarily handles refined fuels (diesel and jet fuel) transported to the port from Texas coastal refineries. Although no refinery operates at Port Isabel, truck tanker operators travel there to load fuel for export to Mexican customers 30 miles across the U.S. border.
The northern area of the proposed dolphin replacement activity. The damaged dolphin is left of center in the photograph. (Port Isabel)
The economic development project there features two main improvements. The first is to build “a 3.46-acre caliche laydown area to enable PILOT and its industrial customers to park and operate heavy trucks to fulfill shipment contracts (egress and ingress) adjacent to dock terminal facilities. The entire area would be covered with 12 inches of compacted lime stabilized caliche,” Bearden said.
This improvement will directly benefit trucking by doubling commercial vehicle traffic into the port, which currently averages 25 trucks daily loading refined fuel products for Mexico, he added.
“Fuel importers from Mexico will increase their use of Port Isabel once it becomes known that PILOT has improved facilities. It should be noted that the Navigation District recently spearheaded the reconstruction of Port Road (a city road segment) under a separate project. The Texas Department of Transportation awarded funds to the Navigation District that will now enable the heavily used local road to handle the greater volume of heavy truck traffic,” Bearden said.
The second port upgrade involves replacing and installing three mooring dolphins on three contiguous docks.
“PILOT provides docking services to both commercial and government vessels at the Port Isabel Turning Basin,” Bearden noted. “Two dolphins are damaged and will be replaced. One dolphin is completely missing and needs to be replaced. This improvement will expand berthing options and allow for greater flexibility in the location and size of vessels to dock at the port.”
View to the east showing the southern area of the proposed dolphin replacement activity. (Port Isabel)
Completion of both improvements is expected within 14 months. “Engineering and related services would be completed in the first four to five months of this period, followed by procurement of construction services and all necessary consultations with various government agencies including [Economic Development Administration] under the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Bearden said.
Currently, Port Isabel serves as a home base for more than 14 businesses with 500 employees. Its focus is offering companies lower transportation costs and providing land for industrial development from its southernmost tip of Texas location within reach of Mexico as well as Central and South America.
“The port has available commercial and industrial space for new tenants and industries, including shoreline property that can be developed into new docks for commercial vessels. Public law enforcement agencies operate out of the port as does a long-standing shrimp fleet,” Bearden said. “It is usually overlooked as a viable and excellent choice for new commercial prospects.”
