An $11.4 million U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant will be used to rebuild and modernize the former Greenville rail yard, adjacent to the Global Container Terminal expansion project at the Port of New York/New Jersey. USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ, presented the check during a ceremony at the facility last week.
The expanded Global facility is scheduled to open in 2014 and will feature new container handling technology designed to achieve higher efficiency while improving safety and security for the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), AFL-CIO workforce. The technologically advanced marine terminal is expected to improve the competitiveness of the Port of New York and New Jersey with its ability to handle the largest container vessels at greater throughput density per acre.
The intermodal facility when completed will allow an additional 250,000 containers annually to be moved to and from ocean-going vessels and double-stack freight trains traveling longer distances between the port and the heartland. The South Hudson Intermodal Facility will enhance the Port of New York & New Jersey’s three existing rail facilities while promoting future growth of intermodal cargo through the City of Bayonne while reducing the amount of over the road trucks congesting both the Hudson County and regional roadway network.
Less truck traffic is also expected to reduce pollution to neighboring communities. TIGER funds will be used to procure two double-cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes, which will load and unload double-stack rail cars in the 32-car rail car working intermodal yard.
“The DOT TIGER funds places us a giant step closer to the total Global expansion, the total development of Port Jersey peninsula and a is a superb example of how public and private funding can work together to help such projects evolve,” said James Devine, President and CEO, Global Container Terminals USA. “It is also a testament to the long-term commitment from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to protect the port’s continuing role as a leading U.S. gateway for global commerce,” he added.
The Port Authority acquired the land for the project adjoining Global's existing facility in 2007, ensuring that remaining waterfront property would be used for waterfront business. The Global project and the adjacent rail yard will create significant employment opportunity through both the construction phase and operation of the facility. Richard Larrabee, director of port commerce for the PANYNJ, noted the significant investment made by the bi-state agency in the facility, including dredging, real estate purchase, equipment and involvement in the total development. "It will bring this area into the 21st century," he said.
Integration with the rail facilities creates alternatives and opportunities for containerized goods to access the expanding Norfolk Southern Heartland Corridor and the CSX National Gateway rail lines. Creation of the SHIF allows direct transfer of rail export and import containers to ocean going vessels without truck drayage through the regions roadways.
At Global, the existing 100-acre marine container terminal is being expanded an additional 70 acres along with the modernization of the existing vessel berth along with the expansion of two additional berths. Global Terminal, the expansion area and the intermodal yard are situated on New York Bay, ahead of the entrance to the Kill Van Kull. Ships calling at Global do not transit under the Bayonne Bridge, eliminating air draft limitations. With 50 feet of water depth at its new berths, Global Terminal will be able to handle the largest container vessels in the world. The terminal will have total capacity to move 1.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year, making it one of the most efficient port terminals in the country based on throughput density per acre. Said Mr. Devine: "We expect to see you all here in 662 days, April 14, 2014, for the grand opening."
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