New Investments to Increase U.S. Port Efficiency

Coastal and offshore ports are engaged in rehabilitation projects that would help reduce the supply chain problems that have plagued companies since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The focus on port projects under the recently adopted Infrastructure and Employment Investment Act is part of the Biden administration’s overall efforts to help reduce the stagnated supply chain in the United States.

“That bill is going to help improve ports that get our supply chains moving and speeding up deliveries and addressing shortages,” said John Fumero, a shareholder in Nason Yeager, a Florida-based law firm that operates the Port of Palm Beach, Florida. “[It] will provide ports with significant funding to implement these projects in order to increase capacity.”

However, there is more money for the sector than the $17 billion in federal funding provided to ports in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In December, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced $241 million in grants through the United States Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). This money goes to 25 projects in 19 states to strengthen US ports.

In addition to this funding, PIDP will increase that to $450 million in grants annually over the next five years through IIJA funds – a total of $2.25 billion through 2026.

“The effects of the disruption of the supply chain this past year have been felt by business lines and families across the country and the world,” said Fitz O’Donnell, senior vice president of operations at St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. “The image of so many ships waiting to call on our ports has served as a collective call to action to develop solutions.”

According to the market analysis, the American Association of Road Builders and Transport (ARTBA) anticipates ports and waterway construction to increase by 6% in 2022.

Similarly, the port of Palm Beach will launch a $26 million port infrastructure development program in 2022, more than doubling the port’s intermodal rail capacity.

“It’s all about moving containers in and out of the port as quickly as possible,” Fumero said.

The Port of Palm Beach is also investing many millions of dollars in repairing and upgrading its container yard. The project received a grant, in addition to port funds totaling $2.9 million for the first phase of the project. The soil survey will begin in the next few weeks and bidding for the project is expected to take place by the end of the second quarter of this year, said Ron Coddington, Director of Project Engineering.

“We have heard from several of our clients that they are actively working to accelerate their future capital improvement programs as the demand for marine terminal services continues to grow,” O’Donnell said. “Projects that were scheduled for 2024 and beyond are being fast-tracked for permitting and execution.”