Georgia Port Authority (GPA) Executive Director Griff Lynch previewed a plan on Monday to more than double container handling capacity at the Garden City Terminal to 10 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2028.
Lynch outlined the strategic plan at the 50th annual Georgia Foreign Trade Conference. It calls for 42 ship-to-shore cranes, 200 yard cranes, new rubber tyred gantry (RTG) crane lanes and continued intermodal expansion. GPA is close to completing its second inland terminal in Northwest Georgia, and groundbreaking is scheduled soon on the Mason Mega Rail Project at the Garden City Terminal.
“Georgia is home to both the single largest container and roll-on/roll-off facilities in North America,” Lynch said. “Our goal is to maximize capacity, create jobs and reduce impact on our local communities.”
By 2028, the GPA strategic plan calls for capacity to handle 10 million TEUs, 1 million rail rafts and more than 1 million auto and machinery rafts per year. That would continue capacity growth, which increased from 2.8 million TEUs in 2010 to more than 4 million TEUs in 2017.
“We have come to an exciting turning point,” GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood said. “Georgia’s business-friendly environment, led by Gov. Nathan Deal, coupled with statewide infrastructure investments, have set the stage for new business, new jobs, and additional trade through the ports of Savannah and Brunswick.”
Dredging of Savannah’s outer harbor is slated for completion in March, and deepening of the inner harbor is slated for completion in 2021. By March, the harbor expansion project is expected to be 50 percent complete.