Crowley Ramps up Investment in Puerto Rico
Crowley Puerto Rico Services announced an additional $21 million construction contract for improvements and upgrades at its Isla Grande port terminal in San Juan.
The contract was awarded to Del Valle Group, S.P. of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, and includes expanding the terminal’s capacity for handling refrigerated containers; paving 15 acres to accommodate container stacking; installing a new electrical substation to provide power for three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes; constructing a new seven-lane terminal exit gate and installing hardware required for a new terminal operating software system, Crowley said.
The contract is the third awarded by Crowley in association with its investment in the Isla Grande terminal in preparation for next year’s arrival of the first of Crowley’s two new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered, Commitment Class ships now under construction in Pascagoula, Miss.
“We are very pleased to have this final contract awarded as part of the transformation of our terminal at Isla Grande,” said Jose “Pache” Ayala, Crowley vice president, Puerto Rico. “The improvements being made to the terminal will provide customers with faster gate times and overall shorter turn times for truckers in and out of the terminal. The overall improved efficiency we will be able to achieve will further enhance the excellent service our customers already receive.”
Crowley developed the terminal design has with Harbor Consulting Engineers, Inc. as the lead design firm for the project, Wood Harbinger, Inc. as electrical engineers and AG Environmental PSC as environmental engineers. Harbor is the Engineer of Record for the project, providing construction supervision services for its duration.
“This contract represents the last major contract to be awarded in our half-a-billion-dollar investment in our Puerto Rico Jones Act service,” said John Hourihan, Crowley senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico. “With construction of both Commitment Class ships well underway, dredging at Isla Grande completed and pile driving operations associated with the pier ongoing, we are definitely beginning to see the results of our investment taking shape.”
The latest contract follows on a $48.5 million construction contract in 2015 for a new pier at the Isla Grande terminal, after an agreement with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) for a 30-year lease extension for the property. That contract was awarded to L.P.C. & D. Inc., of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and includes the development of a 900-foot-long by 114-foot-wide concrete pier and all associated dredging for the Commitment Class ships. The terminal expansion also includes the construction and installation of three new ship-to-shore container gantry cranes under a separate contract.
