ICON Materials of Kent, the low bidder, will manage construction of a new container terminal for Evergreen America Inc. The contract awards ICON $46.2 million to build the terminal and a dedicated intermodal yard.
This is the biggest project in port history, said Port of Tacoma Commissioner Jack Fabulich. While this new container terminal will be a foundation for the ports future, it also provides a much-needed stimulus to the Tacoma-Pierce County economy. We estimate that this project will create 900 construction jobs during each year of construction, and once the new terminal opens, there will be 1,190 direct port-industry jobs associated with moving cargo through the facility.
Most recently, ICON was the primary contractor on the ports Blair Terminal Improvement project and construction of the $40 million, 144-acre Marshall Avenue Auto Facility.
Some aspects of work at the former Pierce County Terminal site are already under way. Warehouses have been demolished and wharf construction and dredging is in progress. The ports auto processing facilities have been relocated to the Marshall Avenue complex, clearing the way for work on the new Evergreen Terminal in early November.
In related news, the Port Commission recently awarded $38.8 million to Manson/Traylor, a joint venture, for wharf construction, dredging and environmental mitigation work.
Also, Porter Brothers Construction of Edgewood, Wash., was awarded $7.9 million to construct major terminal buildings, including the maintenance complex, main gate and administration buildings.
The Evergreen Terminal project is the centerpiece of the ports five-year, $341 million capital development program. Capital costs associated with the Evergreen project include container and intermodal yards, associated infrastructure, utilities relocation, waterway and turning basin widening, and improvements to adjacent surface streets. Total capital costs associated with this project are approximately $210 million.
The Port of Tacoma is projecting total portwide volume in 2003 to be a record 1.725 million (twenty-foot equivalent containers).
Located at the terminus of the 2.2-mile-long Blair Waterway, the planned seven-crane, facility will feature two linear berths (approximately 2,260 feet long), a container yard, a dedicated intermodal yard and associated infrastructure. If required, there is flexibility for a third berth at a later date.
