The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) revealed its 10-year, which will cost $2.5 billion, to expand the capacity of Savannah’s Port container terminal from 5.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit containers (TEUs) to 8 million.
The plan includes the Mason Mega Rail facility, which will double the Port of Savannah’s rail capacity to 1 million lifts per year by 2020; new equipment, including eight additional ship-to-shore cranes and 64 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes; gate and container storage expansions, berth improvements and off terminal road additions.
Work on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) is expected to be finished in late 2021.
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Moreover, a US Army Corps of Engineers study estimates that the deepening’s net benefit in transportation savings for shippers and consumers will be at $282 million per year. The expected total savings over the course of 50 years is $14.1 billion.
Deeper water will allow larger ships to call on the Port of Savannah. For this reason, GPA will examine future infrastructure requirements, including air draft capacity of the Talmadge Bridge. Although no such vessels currently call on the US East Coast, the port could handle some vessels up to 19,000 TEU capacity.
In addition, GPA will begin a new workforce development initiative, the Youth learning Equipment and Safety program, or YES. This aims to hire and train high school graduates for careers in the port industry. The new hires will follow experienced workers and learn forklift, truck and container equipment operations.
