SeaPort Manatee has been awarded a federal grant of nearly US$12m to advance a 16.56 acre expansion of container yard facilities at the Florida Gulf Coast trade gateway.
The port operator can now solicit bids for the expansiojn project, aiming to commence construction in 2023 and completing the work in 2025.
Carlos Buqueras, SeaPort Manatee’s executive director, said: “SeaPort Manatee is extremely grateful to the USDOT and FDOT for their support of this crucial project, which should furnish sufficient cargo-handling capacity accommodate burgeoning activity at the seaport through approximately 2041.”
This latest phase of expansion is to increase 18 acres of container yard already completed adjacent to SeaPort Manatee’s berths 12 and 14, plus around 7 more acres under construction slated for mid-2023 completion.
Earlier phases of the endeavour have moved forward thanks to federal, state, and local funding totalling more than US$18m.
SeaPort Manatee will also use the funding to create a new container yard access road and install electrical systems for two new mobile harbour cranes (MHCs) which arrived in April.
Located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico at the entrance to Tampa Bay, containerised cargo tonnage at SeaPort Manatee increased by 36% in the six-month period ended March 31 compared to the previous year according to Buqueras.
“Cargo volumes are projected to continue to rise as SeaPort Manatee flourishes as a vital supply chain gateway for the US Eastern Seaboard,” he added.
The SeaPort Manatee undertaking is one of 26 projects for which a total of US$1.5bn in Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) competitive grant funding was announced by US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The INFRA money is being augmented by state and local funds including equal sums of US$1.1m each from a Florida Department of Transportation grant and from SeaPort Manatee revenue.
Reggie Bellamy, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, said: “We are very appreciative of this federal funding for delivery of modern infrastructure for safe, efficient movement of increasing levels of cargo while delivering significant local, regional and national economic benefits.”
