U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced that more than $39 million federal grants would go to two Texas ports.
The grants, part of nearly $280 million in discretionary grant funding from the U. S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, will improve the ports, as well as the local economy, Chao said.
“Ports are gateways to the world, and port infrastructure investments will improve the regional economy, increase productivity and economic competitiveness, and create more jobs,” Chao said.
Port Houston and the Port of Corpus Christi were awarded the grants under the USDOT’s Port Infrastructure Development Program, aimed at improving port facilities across America.
In Port Houston, nearly $22 million will be used to develop 1,000 feet of green space into a wharf at the Bayport Terminal, including the installation of a crane that will help access the newly developed wharf space. The project will allow the port to handle 2.4 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container ships each year.
At the Port of Corpus Christ, $17.6 million will fund the first phase of a refurbishment plan that would double the capacity of the port’s customers to handle petroleum products on Oil Dock 3.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work more directly with America’s ports to enhance their facilities,” said Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby. “The grants awarded will ensure that these facilities are operating at their highest, most productive capacities.”