The Port of Grays Harbor has submitted a Port Infrastructure Development Program grant to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration for its East Terminal 4 Redevelopment and Expansion project.

The project qualifies as a “small project at a small port,” seeking $4.1 million in grant funds to be matched by $1.1 million in Port funds.

The Port purchased the Washington State Department of Transportation’s former 520 casting basin site, adjacent to Terminal 4, at the end of 2018 for a little more than $4.5 million. The Port was the only bidder on the 54-acre site, which is on the water and served by rail and an active dock.

The property was used to build the huge pontoons used on the new 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington from 2011-15 and has sat unused since that time.

The East Terminal 4 Redevelopment & Expansion project will repurpose the site by securing the flood gate, removing associated infrastructure and filling the basin, according to a Port statement.

Once completed, the project will increase the Port’s terminal cargo space by 50% and put the idle industrial site back into productive use for the Grays Harbor community. Grant announcements are expected later this year.