PortMiami completes deep dredge, on-dock rail terminal project

Florida East Coast Railway (FECR), PortMiami and government officials late last week marked the completion of the deep dredge and on-dock intermodal rail terminal project as part of $1 billion in capital infrastructure work to prepare the port to handle fully laden post-Panamax vessels.

The port now offers super post-Panamax gantry cranes that can service cargo vessels up to 22 containers wide and up to nine containers above deck and 11 containers below. In partnership with FECR, the on-dock intermodal rail service links PortMiami to 70 percent of the U.S. population in four days or less. Also, a new fast access tunnel connects the port to the U.S. interstate highway system.

"The completion of PortMiami's deep dredge and intermodal on-dock rail projects cannot be overstated, PortMiami is now positioned as the most reliable, convenient and efficient global hub on the North American East Coast ready to service the world's leading ocean carriers," said PortMiami Director and Chief Executive officer Juan Kuryla in a press release.

"We have come a long way since our on-dock rail groundbreaking in July of 2011, to the completion of the port tunnel last year, and now the completion of the deep dredge," said FECR President and CEO Jim Hertwig. "Today, FECR runs daily port trains with cargo going to and from global markets that reach 70 percent of the U.S. population in four days or less, including next-day service within the state of Florida and second-day service throughout the Southeast."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed the project, and Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. LLC was the contractor for deepening the port's channel.