Call for action over ageing US ports

The Failure to Act report says that between now and 2020 a total investment needs to be made of around US$30bn in order to resolve the issue which is set to get even worse because planned expenditure are about $14bn – leaving an investment gap of nearly $16bn.

And this is a view echoed among the US ports and American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) members. A Port of Los Angeles spokesman said to Port Strategy: “As more attention converges on the state of our port system – for example, the recently formed Congressional PORTS Caucus and the Freight Policy Council – it’s important for the broader public to understand how this system impacts our collective economic health. The Failure to Act report helps to highlight the critical need for a strategic investment plan for our nation’s freight infrastructure.”

ASCE warns that unless the investment gap is filled, transporting goods will become more costly, prices will rise and the US will become less competitive in the global market.

It says that the expansion of the Panama Canal by 2015 will mean that the size of container ships will increase considerably, affecting cargo handling operations at US ports – hence the need to modernise. According to the report, work needs to be done to dredge the harbours and channels and inland waterways require new or rehabilitated lock and dam facilities to cater for the next generation of container ships.