than triple the rail yard’s volume to 4.7 million TEUs annually. In the meantime, the $40-million track realignment at Terminal Island Wye will eliminate switching conflicts and boost efficiency, particularly at Terminal Island, which houses Pier T, the port’s largest container terminal. The project includes the construction of new tracks and the enhancement of a triangular rail junction where long trains can be turned and staged. It’s expected to finish this year, Cordero says. In 2020, the Port of Long Beach was awarded a $14.5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to help fund this project. The port itself was expected to cover the remaining project cost of $25.5 million. Another project is the removal of a bottleneck through the Fourth Track at Ocean Boulevard, which was completed in 2023. In 2022, the port completed the $35 million Pier G-J Double Track Access project, adding a second rail line of 8,000-feet between two major piers. A $52-million project to improve on- dock rail capacity at Pier 300 at the Port of Los Angeles will add new loading and unloading tracks to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PORT OF LOS ANGELES
The state-of-the-art Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility at the Port of Long Beach will move freight faster and more sustainably. It will double the size of the existing Pier B rail yard to 171 acres and more than triple the volume of on-dock rail capacity handled annually.
the Port of Savannah’s 39 weekly global containership services. Shippers will no longer need to truck containers from this region of the state to the port. Located along the manufacturing and logistics corridor of Interstate 85, the BRC will serve a region critical to the production of heavy equipment, and food and forest products. It’s also important for retail warehousing. To cover the $134 million project costs, GPA invested $80.1 million. In addition, the project secured a $46.8 million grant from the Maritime Administration and $7 million from Norfolk Southern. PORT OF LONG BEACH The biggest capital investments at the Port of Long Beach over the next decade will be improvements to the rail system, Cordero says. These changes will make it possible for a greater share of the cargo to move through the port via on-dock rail, or directly from marine terminals to trains. The centerpiece project is the $1.57 billion Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility. The new Pier B, which is beginning construction, expands an existing rail yard where the switching railroad builds trains. The project, which is expected to be finished by 2032, will double the yard from its current 82 acres, and will more
online in the next year or two, and will help shippers move their goods more efficiently and securely. GEORGIA PORTS AUTHORITY Network Georgia, an initiative of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), is establishing a series of inland ports aimed at shifting long-haul truck routes to rail, eliminating millions of truck miles through the state each year. Inland terminals allow cargo to be staged at the end customer’s doorstep, while the satellite rail ramps allow GPA to flow more cargo through marine terminals by providing additional container storage and freeing up capacity at the Port of Savannah, says Wesley Barrell, general manager of inland operations at GPA. In Gainesville, Georgia, the GPA is constructing a second inland rail terminal, the Blue Ridge Connector (BRC). The facility will have a maximum throughput capacity of 200,000 containers annually. The BRC will have capacity to store and operate 18,000 feet of rail cars on terminal, with the average length of the arriving and departing trains expected to be approximately 3,000 feet. It will be served by 14 rubber-tired gantry cranes. When operations start in 2026, the facility will link northeast Georgia with
October 2024 • Inbound Logistics 29
Powered by FlippingBook