On Dec. 3, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration(Marad) announced that $4.85million in grants have been awarded to five marine highway projects through theUnited States Marine Highway Program (USMHP).

The goal of the marine highway grants are to enhance the movement of goods along U.S. navigable waterways while expanding existing waterborne freight services inLouisiana, Puerto Rico, Washington, and West Virginia.

All marine highway grants award recipients must comply with the requirements of the Biden administration's infrastructure law that contain “build America, buy America” provisions, meaning that these funds will be used to purchase U.S.-made steel, building materials, and manufactured equipment.

Projects receiving marine highway funding include:  

The Central Louisiana Regional Port, Alexandra, La., was awarded $2.5 million for the procurement, delivery, and assembly of a 275-ton marine crane with an electric magnet and a 27.5-ton forklift. The crane is expected to enhance cargo handling capacities and support military logistics at the Alexandria port. Marad stated the cargo transloading equipment should enable the port to efficiently load and unload diverse cargoes including steel sheets, aluminum billets, military equipment, agricultural products, containerized goods and disaster response supplies. The project should help shift cargo currently transported by truck and rail to more energy-efficient barging between the port site on U.S. Marine Highway Route M-49 and connecting U.S. Marine Highway routes in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Puerto Rico Integrated Transportation Authority was awarded $711,000 for the construction of a new vehicle ramp at the Mosquito Terminal in Vieques. Marad said the ramp is essential to support the efficient and safe loading and unloading of cargo on a new barge currently under construction. The project will address a growing demand for marine highway transportation services central to the waterborne transportation of consumer goods, construction materials, and agricultural products. Strengthening resiliency on the U.S. Marine Highway Route M-2 by increasing terminal capacity to handle higher cargo volumes is a central goal of the program. 

Osprey Logistics LLC., Everett, Wash., was awarded $881,000 to purchase cargo handling equipment critical to port operations, specifically a wheel loader and fork attachments. The project is expected to expand the recipient’s terminal capacity to include containers, heavy aggregates and lumber, and enhance their ability to load and unload logs at their privately owned facility in Everett, Wash. The project aims to increase loading speed and efficiency by up to 50% and add capacity to emerging U.S. Marine Highway Route M-5 activity in Puget Sound, building on the recipient’s past record of reducing 5,600 regional truck trips annually by providing a waterborne alternative to congested highways.

Tidewater Barge Line Inc., Vancouver, Wash., was awarded $454,000 to support expanded barge service between the recipient’s terminal in Vancouver, Wash., and the Port of Morrow, Ore. The award will be used to acquire a low-emission container handler, enabling the recipient to divert additional volumes of containerized municipal waste from clogged highways to U.S. Marine Highway Route M-84. 

Empire Diversified Industries was awarded $278,000 for the creation of a master plan for the recently established Port of West Virginia in Follansbee, W. Va., to prioritize infrastructure projects and ensure the port can adapt to evolving supply chain dynamics, including the increased use of the U.S. Marine Highway Routes M-70 & M-79. Central to the plan is alignment with regional freight shipment needs and a significant modal shift from truck to barge to alleviate landside congestion. The recipient also plans to produce alternative fuels on site to facilitate the future use of zero-emission equipment once the terminal is in place.

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