Construction Underway on Alabama State Port Authority’s Intermodal Container Transfer Facility
March 4, 2009The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) is moving forward on construction of the intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF), the second element of the port’s Choctaw Point project.
“The intermodal container transfer facility will add much-needed infrastructure to reduce the number of trucks on our highways eliminating both congestion and emissions. We are actively putting together financing plans for both the transfer facility and the logistics park,” said Jimmy Lyons, Director and CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority. He added that all permits are in place and much of the engineering, approximately 95%, is complete on the ICTF.
The facility, estimated to cost $75 million and take 3 years to complete, connects an existing marine terminal with up to five Class 1 railroads. Funding for ICTF will be provided by ASPA, the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) and private sector sources. The construction is divided into packages that can be phased as funding is available. Preliminary site work for the ICTF is underway with an estimated completion in June 2009, and site fill work is scheduled to begin in July 2009.
The Choctaw Point project consists of three interconnected and interrelated elements: a marine container terminal, an intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF), and a logistics park utilizing parcels of adjacent land.
The first element of the facility, the container terminal, became operational in its first phase on October 1, 2008. This facility was constructed utilizing funds from the Alabama State Port Authority, the State of Alabama, the Federal Department of Transportation and the private sector partners, Mobile Container Terminal, LLC. The container terminal is currently serving companies throughout Alabama, the Florida panhandle, western Georgia, eastern Mississippi, and Tennessee.
ICTF is the second element of the facility. Construction of the logistics park, the third element, will start shortly after the contracts are in place for the ICTF. ASPA officials anticipate the Authority and private sector partners will bear the costs for the logistics park, generating an additional $30–40 million in construction activity.
