Port of New Orleans Awards Terminal Build Contract
The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans awarded a $13.3 million construction contract to Metairie, La.-based Hard Rock Construction LLC today for the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal improvement project at its monthly meeting. Hard Rock Construction was the lowest of eight bidders. The 12-acre project will result in a modern and efficient intermodal container transfer terminal to facilitate the movement of marine and rail cargo, while enhancing safety and reducing the carbon footprint of the regional and national transportation system.
WRDA to the Wise
May 15, 2013 was a very good day for the nation’s barge and towing operators, as well as shippers of grain, coal, chemicals, petroleum products, aggregate materials, and agri-input products. It was also a good day for our nation’s economy and for its consumers. The Senate passed, by a vote of 83-14, a long-overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), last reauthorized in 2007. Six years may not seem like a long time to await action on Capitol Hill. But since 57% of the locks and dams on the nation’s inland waterways system have exceeded their economic design life expectancy of 50 years…
U.S.Barge Traffic Left High & Dry in River Mississippi
The Lake Providence Port is high and dry through drought after U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abandoned efforts to dredge its access channel. Louisiana farmers scramble to find other avenues to ship as much as 1 million tons of corn and soybeans out of the region. An average of 850,000 tons of grain is shipped from the Lake Providence Port annually during harvest season, but bumper crops of corn and soybeans are expected from northeastern Louisiana farmers, which could have pushed that amount above 1 million tons. Port Director Wyly Gilfoil sent an e-mail to state lawmakers Friday informing them the port currently can't load barges because of low water levels on the Mississippi River.
Frelinghuysen Directs Corps To Maintain Lower Miss. River
The Big River Coalition praised the efforts of the Chairman of the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee and the entire Louisiana Congressional delegation for their efforts to have the U.S. Corps of Engineers maintain the Lower Mississippi River to its project dimension. As the House of Representatives considers a Continuing Resolution to fund the Federal government through Sept. 30, U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of N.J., Chairman of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, urged the Corps to direct funding to properly dredge and maintain the Lower Mississippi River. “I want to assure my colleagues that I have provided sufficient flexibility within the $2.361…
Honey, they Shrunk the Fleet!
The Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus met yesterday with shipbuilding industry officials to discuss commercial and military shipbuilding priorities. The event was part of the Shipbuilding Industry Day Conference hosted by the American Shipbuilding Association. During a discussion among members of Congress, presidents of the Big Six shipyards, shipbuilding labor representatives, and major ship system and component manufacturers from across the country, the group outlined the threats facing the Nation if our naval fleet and shipbuilding industry continue to decline. Shipbuilding Caucus co-chairs Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) and Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) were joined by Congressmen Tom Allen (D-ME)…
