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Port ponders upgrade
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 11:07 AM PDT
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| Jacob Jones | The Daily World The Fairchem Genesis out of Panama is docked at the Port of Grays Harbor’s Terminal 2 on Wednesday. |
That day has arrived. But actual work might start later than sooner.
The challenge is finding the funding — some $3.8 million.
“With the volume projections that (Ag Processing) were giving us, and our own expectations, we knew it was going to be a problem eventually,” said Port Commissioner Jack Thompson. “And that was even before Imperium was in the picture.”
With Ag Processing and the Imperium Renewables biodiesel facility both using Terminal 2 to unload and load cargo, the Port is moving toward deeper dredging at Terminal 1 to expand that dock for deep-water vessels.
The commissioners and Port staff heard a report Tuesday from engineering consultants Berger/Abam Inc. of Federal Way. They were hired to assess the existing conditions and provide options to make the terminal large enough to handle Panamax class vessels, which are up to 750 feet long and 105 feet wide.
The consultants were also charged with determining how feasible it would be for the Port to handle vessels loading and unloading at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at the same time.
“We came up with four options,” said consultant Scott Branlund.
They range from using much of the existing infrastructure to replacing all the docks, catwalks, trestles and pilings and constructing an underwater breakwater.
The options range from $3.8 million to $10.3 million.
“We recommend Option 4,” said Branlund. “It’s the cheapest, but it will accomplish what you need.”
That option calls for demolishing existing dolphins (clusters of poles banded together to form one large piling) and catwalks, building a new trestle to go along with the old one, and constructing berthing dolphins 50 feet beyond the face of the existing dock.
The cost is the big advantage, while disadvantages include maintaining use of the existing dock and trestle. This option also provides minimal working area for cranes and vehicles to service, load or unload vessels and barges at the new pier.
“We are only looking at Option 4 now,” said Thompson, who was appointed by commission president Stan Pinnick to head a task force for the project.
The bulk of the expense would be dredging out sediment at the face of the dock from its current 24 feet depth to the 41 feet required to handle the larger vessels.
In addition to the construction costs, the consultant said it would take an estimated $300,000 to do other work at the terminal, including replacing 37 deteriorated pilings with steel ones (although using concrete would cut some cost) and strengthening the existing structures.
When preparing the report, the consultants actually plotted Terminal 2 to handle an even larger vessel — up to 850 feet — while Terminal 1 was using a 750-footer.
This was all good news for the commission and Port staff.
“It’s exciting because it would allow us to deal in multiple tasks as shipping continues to grow,” said Commissioner Thompson. “It would open us up and allow us to get into the international shipping and barging we can’t do now.”
He said there have already been times when the Port had to move ships back and forth from Terminal 4 to accommodate incoming canola and outgoing biodiesel (for Imperium) with Ag Processing traffic at Terminal 2.
The project would require numerous state and federal permits and mitigation. The consultants say that process would take 12 to 24 months, which Thompson characterized as a “pretty aggressive” schedule.
Funding is also a problem, so the actual construction is well down the line.
“This was a feasible study with cost options,” said Gary Nelson, the Port’s executive director. “Funding comes in the next phase. We haven’t figured that out yet.”
Nelson said the funding would likely come from a number of sources, but he all but ruled out a higher property tax levy.
“I would say not,” the Port director said, “although we might use existing taxes for capital improvement projects.
“We’ll probably use a combination of federal, state and whatever rock we can turn over.”
Vessel traffic booming
By Bill Lindstrom
The Daily World
Ship traffic at the Port of Grays Harbor was up sharply during the first quarter of 2008.
Thirteen vessels loaded or unloaded at the Port’s Terminal 2, compared to only three in the first quarter of 2007.
The cargo included soybeans, the first time that product has been offloaded at the Ag Processing Inc. facility, rather than the usual soybean meal.
“It went very well. No problems at all,” said Leonard Barnes, the Port’s deputy executive director. “That enables us to add to the commodity that we can handle.”
The soybean load required very little adjustment to the bulk grain-loading equipment at the facility, he said.
March was a particularly busy month, with five vessels loading or unloading nearly 100,000 metric tons of cargo.
April is off to a good start, with two vessels already this month, including one in Port today unloading canola for Imperium Gray Harbor’s biodiesel facility. It will turn right around and load finished biodiesel. That product total will be about 23,000 metric tons.
Other vessels are due on April 24, 28, May 10, 15, 18 and 28 for a total cargo of about 111,000 metric tons.
The ships came from and went to ports all over the world — New Zealand, Indonesia, China, Japan, Panama and the Philippines, Barnes said.
In other Port business Tuesday, the commissioners:
* Accepted a contract for the Industrial Road rail crossing signal system at West First Street in Aberdeen, allowing access for rail into the Imperium Grays Harbor plant. The project cost is $234,000 of which the Port’s portion is $15,000 from the capital budget.
* Gave authority to proceed with plans to replace the aging rotating beacon at Bowerman Field at Hoquiam, along with the electrical building and light standard. Cost is $198,000 of which the Port’s portion is $9,000.
* Called for bids on replacing 47 wood pilings at Terminal 3 and 21 at Teminal 4. The new pilings will be treated wood. Payment comes from the capital budget.
* Called for bids on electrical repairs and light standard replacement in the wake of the December storm. Replacement is covered by insurance.
* Extended until March 2009 a lease to Paneltech for Warehouse A, which the Hoquiam company uses for storage.
* Approved a new lease with the PUD for equipment storage from month-to-month to one year.
* Approved the sale of two abandoned, derelict vessels at Westport.
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