Construction has begun on straightening a bend at Berth 1 at Garden City Terminal. The project will allow four 16,000 TEU vessels and three other ships to work simultaneously.
Planned expansion will add 1.6 million TEUs of capacity in Savannah
In addition to handling 5.3 million twenty-foot equivalent container units for the first time in a fiscal year, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is also progressing on a series of capacity enhancement projects to stay ahead of future growth.
GPA’s Board recently approved a $525 million bond referendum to fast-track expansion efforts at the Port of Savannah. The projects at Garden City Terminal will add 1.6 million TEUs of annual capacity.
GPA’s Peak Capacity project will add 800,000 TEUs of annual capacity in two phases. Phase I, which opens in December, will deliver three new rubber-tired gantry crane rows. Phase II, to be complete in the spring of 2022, will add a fourth RTG row.
Another project set to add 750,000 TEUs of annual capacity is now under design. A permit has been submitted for the Garden City West Expansion project, which is scheduled to begin construction in Spring 2022.
In April of this year, GPA began construction to straighten a bend at Berth 1 at Garden City Terminal. Once complete, this realignment will allow GPA to serve four 16,000-TEU vessels and three other ships simultaneously. The project is currently in the demolition phase with an expected completion date of June 2023.
Separately, a cross-docking warehouse planned for 90 acres of land just upriver from Garden City Terminal is slated to begin construction by September 2021. This project will be served by a yard with nine RTG cranes and an annual capacity of 400,000 TEUs. The new expansion will also improve the availability of chassis and empty containers at Garden City Terminal.
The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) is also nearing the finish line, with 90 percent of work complete. The project should see substantial completion in December 2021. The harbor deepening will give larger vessels the ability to take on heavier loads and provide greater scheduling flexibility.
