Jacksonville port breaks ground for CSX-served intermodal facility

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), CSX Corp. Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Chief Commercial Officer Clarence Gooden, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown and other federal, state and local officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for the Dames Point intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) at the Port of Jacksonville, Fla.

Scheduled to be operational in late 2015, the ICTF will provide on-dock rail service to the port's North Jacksonville marine terminal and complement existing on-dock rail facilities at the Blount Island Marine Terminal. The $30 million facility will further enhance the competitiveness of both the Blount Island and TraPac terminals at Dames Point by facilitating the direct transfer of containers between vessels and trains, speeding up the shipment process and reducing the number of trucks on area roads, port officials said in a press release.

"The benefits are clear: faster movement of goods in a supply chain seeking ever more time efficiency, the environmentally friendly vision of fewer trucks on our roads and a clear competitive advantage that JAXPORT and our tenants and customers will market to the world," said Joe York, chairman of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT). "We are building on an already outstanding transportation system that supports Florida’s role as a gateway for international trade into and out of the Sunshine State and the Southeast U.S."

The project's cost will be covered by federal and state grants. In December 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded JAXPORT and the city of Jacksonville a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant for the ICTF. The Florida Department of Transportation has allocated $20 million for the project.

JAXPORT earlier this year awarded a $23.5 million contract to Dana B. Kenyon Co. to design and build the ICTF. After the facility is completed, containers will be transferred to trains on a CSX line.