Port of Long Beach begins final phase of Middle Harbor project

The third and final phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal redevelopment project at the Port of Long Beach, California, is underway and on track to be completed on time and on budget, port officials announced earlier this month.

The port's construction budget for Middle Harbor is nearly $1.5 billion. The first two phases totaled $1 billion; the cost of the final phase is $470 million, according to a port news release.

When completed, the facility operated by Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) will be a 311-acre site equipped with 70 automated stacking cranes, 72 guided container transport vehicles, 50 terminal yard tractors, five dual cantilever gantry cranes within the rail yard, and multiple dedicated reefer stacking structures with a total capacity for 2,250 refrigerated cargo containers.

Construction began in 2011. The terminal will be able to handle more than twice as much cargo as the two older terminals it is replacing: At completion, the facility will have an annual capacity of 3.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

"Once the final phase is built and operating at full capacity, the Middle Harbor Terminal alone would rank as the nation's sixth-busiest container port," said Port Executive Director Mario Cordero.

The project's third phase centers on the final 112 acres and includes building out the container yard, extending the wharf to its full length of 4,250 feet and completing the on-dock rail yard.