Page 10 - Port of Baltimore Magazine Oct/Sept 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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September/October 2013
The happenings in and around the Port
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FUNDING
TIGER Grant Program Helps
To Increase Port’s Cargo Capacity
President Biden noted, “This grant is
going to help take this historic port to a
new level.”
The Port of Baltimore’s application
for TIGER funding was among 568
national applications requesting more
than $9 billion. The total estimate for the
project is $29 million, with the Maryland
Department of Transportation agreeing to
fund the other $19 million.
“I want to thank our congressional
delegation for all of their hard work to
secure these federal dollars for one of
our state’s greatest economic engines,
the Port of Baltimore,” said Maryland
Governor Martin O’Malley. “These dollars
will allow us to continue to grow our busy
cargo business while also maintaining
and growing good-paying, family-
supporting, blue-collar jobs.”
The bulkheads at the Fairfield Marine
V
ice President Joe Biden
visited the Port of Baltimore’s
Seagirt Marine Terminal in
early September to announce that
the Port has secured $10 million in
federal funding through the U.S.
Department of Transportation for a
project to increase its cargo handling
capacity and provide rail access at its
Fairfield Marine Terminal. The project,
funded through the Transportation
Investment Generating Economic
Recovery (TIGER) grant program, will
use dredged material from the Port’s
main access channel to fill an obsolete
and dilapidated basin and create a new
7.6-acre cargo staging area in a prime
location near the vessel berth.
While acknowledging that Port
activities “have fueled in large part the
continued growth of our economy,” Vice
Terminal’s basin are more than 60 years
old and at the end of their useful life.
The dredged material that will fill the
basin will come from the 50-foot-deep
channel leading to the Seagirt Marine
Terminal. While the channel is currently
deep enough to accommodate supersized
container vessels, portions need to be
widened so that larger ships have easier
access. Material placed in the basin will
create additional cargo lay-down land.
Rail access will also be added to
Fairfield, enhancing the efficiency of
handling autos and roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro)
equipment such as farm and construction
machinery. The Port of Baltimore
currently ranks first among all U.S. ports
for handling autos and ro/ro.
“Through a solid partnership with
the federal government, we are ensuring
that the Port of Baltimore is well
positioned for the future,” said Senator
Ben Cardin, who is Chairman of the
Senate Environment and Public Works
Water Subcommittee and a member of
the Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee. “Such investments
translate into greater activity for the Port
and more jobs for Marylanders.”
Senator Barbara Mikulski, who is
Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, which funds the Department
of Transportation, noted, “This public
investment in the Port of Baltimore
is about jobs, jobs, jobs. … Through
construction jobs today, preparing the
Port for the bigger ships that will soon
be sailing through the widened Panama
Canal, we are supporting jobs tomorrow
that will keep Maryland’s economy
rolling.”
BILL MCALLEN
