Ports: Texas commission awards rail project contracts; military equipment heads from Jacksonville to West Africa

The Texas Transportation Commission late last month awarded two contracts to APAC-Texas Inc. totaling more than $13 million for rail projects at ports in Beaumont and Port Arthur.

APAC-Texas obtained a nearly $4.3 million contract to install tracks at the Port of Port Arthur and a nearly $9 million contract to construct a grade separation/overpass at the Port of Beaumont. Both projects are slated to begin in early 2015.

The Port of Beaumont is served by BNSF Railway Co., Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific Railroad, and the Port of Port Arthur is served by KCS, with connections to BNSF and UP.

"A first-class transportation system not only provides a tremendous impact to the immediate community, but also to the entire state as it improves commerce and mobility while creating jobs," said Commissioner Jeff Moseley in a press release.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army 832nd Transportation Battalion in partnership with the Jacksonville Port Authority and Portus last week loaded 800 pieces of U.S. military equipment onto a ship bound for Africa. The equipment will be used for humanitarian aid efforts aimed at stopping the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Based at the Port of Jacksonville's Blount Island Marine Terminal in North Jacksonville, Fla., the 832nd battalion is providing Humvees, dump trucks, forklifts, and other support and construction equipment to help the U.S. government contain the spread of the disease in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The equipment arrived at the port by rail and truck from various military bases across the country, and is being shipped to the U.S. Army Africa Joint Headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia, which serves as the command center for U.S.-led humanitarian efforts in West Africa. The machinery will be used to build up to 17 specially designed 100-bed Ebola treatment units in Liberia.