The North Carolina State Ports Authority received a $16 million grant for infrastructure improvements at the Port of Wilmington. The grant was awarded by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, the company said in its release.
The funds will help support the development of a new container gate complex at the Port of Wilmington, as part of an overall five-year $200 million container yard expansion plan. The existing container gate is not adequate for the forecasted container volumes at the port; at completion, the new gate will allow the Wilmington container yard to more than triple container capacity. Improvements include increasing inbound lanes for truck traffic to seven and outbound lanes to six as well as a new container operations building.
As part of the project, the Ports Authority will also implement new terminal operating and gate operating systems which will aid in the efficiency of the Port of Wilmington’s container yard and container gate. The new truck gate interchange will feature technologies to improve safety and efficiency including optical character recognition, weigh in motion scales, and radio frequency identification that will allow trucks to move through the gate without stopping.
About North Carolina Ports
North Carolina’s ports in Wilmington and Morehead City and Charlotte Inland Port link the state’s consumers, business and industry to world markets and serve as magnets to attract new business and industry to the State of North Carolina. Port activities contribute statewide to more than 87,700 jobs and $678 million each year in state and local tax revenues.