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Yesterday, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) authorized the negotiation of a preliminary engineering contract with Patrick Engineering — the first step in the authority’s pursuit to develop an inland port in Greer to improve the efficiency of international container movements between the Port of Charleston, upstate South Carolina and neighboring states.

Patrick Engineering will partner with South Carolina firm Davis and Floyd to conduct the preliminary engineering work, which will define the inland port’s footprint, cost and key operational aspects. The SCPA’s fiscal-year 2013 capital plan included $23.5 million for the public-private partnership.

In 1982, the authority acquired a 100-acre site in Greer for an inland port, but the project never gained significant traction and has been largely been dormant the past 25 years, SCPA officials said in a prepared statement.
 
“The successful growth of intermodal container movements in our state and the region requires the development of state-of-the-art container handling facilities in the interior able to ground loaded and empty containers, and leverage the efficiency and sustainability of rail transportation,” said SCPA President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Newsome. “The development of this facility has the potential, in time, to improve the movement of freight in this corridor by converting 50,000 all-truck container moves to more efficient multi-modal moves between the interior and the port. We see it as a game-changer for the port and state of South Carolina.”

After obtaining all necessary permits, the SCPA plans to seek a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic grant to help fund the project due to the inland port’s multi-modal characteristics, SCPA officials said.