Recent supply chain delays and price increases have brought key aspects of our nation’s infrastructure into the forefront. Among these pieces of infrastructure are our ports. According to the U.S. Department of Trans - portation, water is the leading mode of transportation for international freight, providing key links between highways, pipelines, and railroads. One of the most rapidly expanding areas in terms of port infrastructure is the Texas Gulf Coast. Along the coast in Texas, ports are continually growing–servicing both public port authori- ties and private companies. Expanding Port Infrastructure Along the Texas Gulf Coast By Luke Carothers
Recently, the Port of Houston started work on Project 11, which will include a widening and deepening of the Houston Ship Channel. Be - ginning in the Gulf and running through Galveston to near downtown Houston, this channel is home to not only port authorities, but some of the largest petrochemical and industrial complexes in the world. Project 11 will take place over the course of five years, and aims to alleviate some of the congestion the area now faces. Other ports in the area, such as Freeport and Corpus Cristi, have also started work on similar projects to expand their ship channel. In both the public and private sectors, one company has established itself as synonymous with the growth of port infrastructure along the Texas Gulf Coast. McCarthy Building Companies, a general con- tractor, is a nationwide company that works in nearly every state. Founded in 1864, McCarthy services several different specialty markets, and started working in port infrastructure nearly 25 years ago. McCarthy’s Marine & Industrial business unit is headquartered in Houston, Texas. In the current day, McCarthy has an established presence in this sector, having worked with all the major public port authorities in the area and several private petrochemical owners in the Greater Houston market. McCarthy’s presence in developing port infrastructure along the Texas Gulf Coast is indicative of both their expertise and the vitality of the area to the nation’s infrastructure. For example, the Port of Houston has now been expanded to a 25-mile-long complex of nearly 200 private and public terminals. These expansions support the Port of Houston’s position as the number one port in the United States in terms of total waterborne tonnage, foreign waterborne tonnage, and number of vessels. McCarthy has been a huge part of the Port of Houston’s growth in importance. Recently, McCarthy has worked for the Port Houston Authority (PHA) on the Bayport Wharf 6 and Container Yard 3N at Barbours Cut Terminal.
These two projects will have a significant impact on the Port’s ability to handle high flows of container shipping traffic. The firs phase of the Bayport facility, where McCarthy is currently working on the Wharf 6 project, was constructed around 20 years ago. According to Fitz O’Donnell, Sr. VP of Operations for McCarthy, these twenty years of operation have seen a gradual build out of the wharf facilities, container storage, and gate complexes. The Wharf 6 project, which extends the Bayport facility to the west, broke ground in the Sum- mer of 2021. According to O’Donnell, the project is nearing halfway completion with its scheduled end date during Summer 2023. This project involves adding 1,000 linear feet of container crane wharf. Adjacent to Wharf 5, the scope of this project included dredging, drilled shaft foundation work, earthwork, structural concrete, crane- infrastructure support, and paving. The Barbours Cut Terminal, on the other hand, is a much older facility. First constructed in the 1970s, the facility is currently undergoing a decade-long transformation to modernize the facility, and McCarthy has been a critical part of that. O’Donnell points out that the need to modernize the facility came when plans to expand the Panama Canal were realized, making cargo ships even bigger. In turn, this means that facilities have to update infrastructure–such as larger cranes–to unload these ships. In many cases this results in the need for sig- nificant expansion. When the Barbours Cut facility was constructed in the 70s, the standard rail for the cranes was 50 feet–now, according to O’Donnell, the standard is 100 feet. Since 2013, McCarthy has completed three projects at the Barbours Cut Terminal. These projects involved selectively demolishing sections of the wharf, strengthening the existing wharf, and making it wide enough for the ship-to-shore cranes to operate. McCarthy’s work is not limited to the Houston area, however, as they are currently working on several projects at other places along the Gulf. Earlier this year, McCarthy started construction on the Port of
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csengineermag.com
August 2022
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