Despite the economic downturn, the Port of Long Beach remains financially sound and is planning to invest more than $2 billion in infrastructure development in the coming years.
These projects will keep Long Beach competitive, protect the environment and improve security - all while creating thousands of temporary construction jobs and other permanent jobs in Long Beach and Southern California. The port already supports about 30,000 jobs in Long Beach, 316,000 jobs in Southern California and 1.5 million jobs across the nation.
Since the port contracts for the majority of its construction work, port spending boosts opportunities for local Southern California construction and contracting firms. The projects have many other spillover economic benefits.
"Even in these challenging times, the port has an opportunity to invest in the economic recovery of this region," said Richard D. Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. "While cargo traffic is slower, we can focus on efforts to develop infrastructure that will create a short-term stimulus and ensure local job creation for decades to come."
The funding for port terminal development projects comes from port revenues, received mostly from leases with private shipping terminal operators. Through prudent financial planning during the boom years, the port built up a strong reserve fund and credit rating, which will allow it to finance these projects. Some infrastructure projects will be funded with a mix of port, state and federal funds. As with all port development, the projects will adhere to the aggressive environmental measures of the port's Green Port Policy and San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan.
Projects include:
- Middle Harbor redevelopment: This $750 million project calls for greener technologies and improved efficiencies at two shipping terminals - Long Beach Container Terminal and California United Terminals - to cut air pollution in half while boosting cargo volume from 1.6 million twenty-footequivalent container units a year to 3.3 million TEUs a year. The project will create about 14,000 new permanent jobs and 1,000 temporary construction jobs in the Southern California region.
- Pier S shipping terminal project: Environmental reviews are under way for a new $650 million shipping terminal on vacant land that was formerly used for oil production. The operations would create about 35,000 new permanent jobs in Southern California and support more than 1,500 temporary jobs during construction.
- Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement: A $1.1 billion project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge with a new six-lane, cable-stayed bridge would support thousands of temporary construction jobs during the five years of construction.
- International Transportation Service administration building: Construction recently began on a nearly $52 million Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified administration building project for longtime Port of Long Beach port shipping terminal tenant International Transportation Service Inc., a project that will generate from 200 to 240 temporary construction jobs for three years. The ITS building is part of a larger $800 million, 10-year redevelopment project under way at Pier G to cut pollution at the terminal by 90 percent.
To find out more about these and other Port of Long Beach projects, visit www.polb.com
