US Department of Transportation Funds $700 Million for Port Improvements

On October 28, 2022, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it was awarding over $700 million in grants under the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory. The selected port improvements are expected to improve supply chain reliability through increased port capacity and resilience, more efficient operations, reduced port emissions, and new workforce opportunities. The funding was provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other congressional appropriations. (The full list of FY22 PIDP award recipients is here.)

The PIDP supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve port and related freight infrastructure to meet the nation’s freight transportation needs and ensure our port infrastructure can meet anticipated growth in freight volumes. The program provides planning, capital funding, and project management assistance to improve ports’ capacity and efficiency. The PIDP provides funding to ports in both urban and rural areas for planning and capital projects. It also includes a statutory set-aside for small ports to continue to improve and expand their capacity to move freight reliably and efficiently and to support local and regional economies.

Notably, four of these projects will support offshore wind (OSW) and are to receive, in total, over $100 million:

• The Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal Project in Staten Island, New York, will get $48,008,231 to fund the dredging of approximately 740,000 cubic yards to create a 35-foot-deep ship basin to support further development of the adjacent 32-acre site as a purpose-built OSW staging and assembly facility in Staten Island. The OSW staging and assembly facility will contain 32 acres of upland area, a 1,365-foot-long wharf with an adjacent laydown area that has enhanced load bearing capacity, and two program areas.
• The Salem Wind Port Project in Salem, Massachusetts, will get $33,835,953 to redevelop a vacant industrial facility into a marshalling area for OSW energy projects. The project includes construction of a 700-foot-long wharf and bulkhead that will be able to handle oversized and heavy cargoes and will be able to serve as a loadout and assembly location. The project also includes improvements to approximately 23 acres of adjacent uplands to create a laydown area adjacent to the loadout and assembly space.
• The Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project in Monroe, Michigan, will get $11,051,586. The project will fund four components. Component 1 is riverfront work that will include replacing the surface of the existing wharf, constructing a second riverfront wharf to be used exclusively for vessel transfer of wind energy cargos, and reinforcing shoreline stabilization. Component 2 is turning basin work that will include rehabilitating the concrete dock cap, bollard, and fender installation as well as replacing roughly 390 feet of failed sheet pile. Component 3 is small boat “Maritime Readiness Slip” construction that will include demolishing and rehabilitating an existing small boat slip to be used by harbor assist vessels. Component 4 is a Shore Power infrastructure that will include removing existing overhead lines and providing shore power to the riverfront wharves.
• The Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project in Connecticut will get $10,530,000 for the design and construction of an operations and maintenance (O&M) wind port. Project elements include the installation of approximately 1,300 linear feet of anchored bulkheads, dredging of approximately 30,000 cubic yards of material to deepen the harbor for larger support vessels, a floating service dock to assist OSW support vessels, and the installation of two reinforced 20-foot by 100-foot crane pads that will also serve as relieving platforms for the new bulkheads.