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New Orleans port wins approval to deepen navigation channel to 50 feet
来源： 编辑：编辑部 发布：2018/10/08 09:22:50
THE Port of New Orleans is making significant progress on two key projects that are in the pipeline after the US Army Corp of Engineers gave its approval to deepen the 258-mile Mississippi River ship channel to 50 feet, up from 45 feet at present.
The deepened channel will run from the Gulf of Mexico 256 miles upriver to the port of Greater Baton Rouge.
The timeline was not immediately clear, "but we are ahead in terms of approvals," the port's vice-president Robert Landry was quoted as saying in a report by IHS Media.
The federal share of costs will be US$118.1 million and the non-federal share $39.4 million. The ship channel is home to four key US ports by tonnage, namely New Orleans, South Louisiana, Greater Baton Rouge and Plaquemines.
The port is also pushing ahead with its plan to better integrate the port's public belt rail and six class I railways. The Port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad became partners early this year when the port acquired the city-owned shortline railroad in exchange for two Mississippi River wharves, Esplanade and Governor Nicholls.
These wharves will now extend the city's riverfront park. The 26-mile shortline provides switching service for the port's six class I railroads: Kansas City Southern (KCS), Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
At present only 11 per cent of the port's containerised cargo is handled by intermodal rail, the rest is trucked. The port plans to better integrate with the public belt system and the six railways to increase that intermodal percentage, Mr Landry told JOC.com.
Containers continue to be the mode of the choice for resin exports. Resin buyers prefer to receive resin in the 25-kilogramme bags used to load containers, Mr Landry said, and are reluctant to switch to the supersacks that would be used if resin shippers switched to breakbulk mode.
Theoretically, 25 kilogramme bags could be packed into supersacks and some carriers are looking at going after that cargo but "it's tough to get [receivers] to change modes," he said.
The deepened channel will run from the Gulf of Mexico 256 miles upriver to the port of Greater Baton Rouge.
The timeline was not immediately clear, "but we are ahead in terms of approvals," the port's vice-president Robert Landry was quoted as saying in a report by IHS Media.
The federal share of costs will be US$118.1 million and the non-federal share $39.4 million. The ship channel is home to four key US ports by tonnage, namely New Orleans, South Louisiana, Greater Baton Rouge and Plaquemines.
The port is also pushing ahead with its plan to better integrate the port's public belt rail and six class I railways. The Port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad became partners early this year when the port acquired the city-owned shortline railroad in exchange for two Mississippi River wharves, Esplanade and Governor Nicholls.
These wharves will now extend the city's riverfront park. The 26-mile shortline provides switching service for the port's six class I railroads: Kansas City Southern (KCS), Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
At present only 11 per cent of the port's containerised cargo is handled by intermodal rail, the rest is trucked. The port plans to better integrate with the public belt system and the six railways to increase that intermodal percentage, Mr Landry told JOC.com.
Containers continue to be the mode of the choice for resin exports. Resin buyers prefer to receive resin in the 25-kilogramme bags used to load containers, Mr Landry said, and are reluctant to switch to the supersacks that would be used if resin shippers switched to breakbulk mode.
Theoretically, 25 kilogramme bags could be packed into supersacks and some carriers are looking at going after that cargo but "it's tough to get [receivers] to change modes," he said.