Port Manatee and the Port of Tampa Bay are carrying out expansion programs for their container facilities.
On the first place, the Manatee County Port Authority approved a new construction contract that will add more than nine acres to the current 10-acre paved facility adjoining Port Manatee’s Berth 12 and 14 docks.
This project is scheduled to cost $8.3 million and expected to be completed by June 2021, will nearly double the size of Manatee’s facility.
Carlos Buqueras, Port Manatee’s executive director commented that
The expansion project is a cornerstone of the two-year, $38 million capital enhancement initiative underway at Port Manatee.
Moreover, the World Direct Shipping is amongst the large users of the facility that has been importing produce and other goods from Mexico since 2014. Del Monte is in its fourth decade operating at Port Manatee, brings in bananas, pineapples, and avocados from Central and South America.
It is stated that the newly awarded construction contract with the Crisdel Group of Tampa is for $7.9 million, with that amount equally divided between port funds and a Florida Department of Transportation grant. Engineering work is being completed under a separate contract.
The construction project includes paving, drainage infrastructure, and high-mast lighting, as well as the installation of 150 new electrical receptacles for plugging in refrigerated cargo containers, to bring Port Manatee’s total contingent of such reefer plugs to 600.
