A US$20 million grant has been given to the Port of Seattle for the development of one of its terminals – Terminal 46 – so that it can handle super post-Panamax ships, reported JOC.
It is one of two projects from Washington that successfully competed for a slice of US$600 million in federal grants, specifically set aside for critical transportation needs.
The grant was awarded by the US Department of Transportation as part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery programme (TIGER) – and will pay for repairs and paving at Terminal 46.
In addition to repairs, the money will be used to extend the crane rail at the dock so that more of the largest cranes can be installed there, thereby increasing the ports cargo-handling capacity.
In effect, this would allow the port to load and unload two ‘super post-Panamax’ ships simultaneously.
Peter McGraw, spokesman for the Port of Seattle, said the port may be able to apply for more TIGER grants in the future.
