Bay area barge project breaks ground

Bay area barge project breaks ground    Maritime Administrator David T. Matsuda joined other federal, state and local officials at the Port of Stockton to officially break ground on a project to move cargo between that port and West Sacramento and the Port of Oakland.
   The three ports will share $30 million in a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant that was announced in the spring. Stockton will receive $13 million under the TIGER grant and Oakland and West Sacramento $8.5 million each.
   All three ports will help fund barges for the service. Stockton will also use funds to build a staging area for cargo and purchase of two cranes; West Sacramento will purchase a crane and build a distribution center where freight, mostly agricultural products from California's Central Valley, will be packed into containers; and Oakland plans to use its funds to help electrify berths for ocean going ships to comply with California’s new “cold ironing” regulations. (See 'Hoteling California,' in the November American Shipper, available now online).
   Matsuda said the project would reduce air emissions from trucks on Interstate 580 and “create new alternatives throughout Northern California to transport exports to the Far East.”