Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) contractors earlier this week rebuilt 700 linear feet of deepwater berthing space at the port’s SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island in Florida.
The enhancements are part of a $104 million project to reconstruct the terminal to feature two 1,200-foot-long container berths capable of simultaneously accommodating two post-Panamax vessels. In the next and final phase of the project, contractors will rebuild another 700 linear feet, Jaxport officials said in a press release.
The berths are electrified to handle a total of 10 electric-powered 100-gauge container cranes, including three currently in use, Jaxport officials said.
Completion of the project will coincide with the completion of harbor deepening through Blount Island in 2022.
A federal project to deepen the Jacksonville shipping channel to a depth of 47 feet from its current depth of 40 feet is fully funded. A new vessel turning basin that will allow larger vessels to turn at Blount Island berths is on track to be completed by the end of this year.
More than $72 million in phased yard improvements are underway to enable the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal to accommodate up to 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units annually, Jaxport officials said.
CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway and Florida East Coast Railway serve the port.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
