GPA board approves two new projects

The Georgia Ports Authority board approved expenditures of up to $12.6 million for the third phase of Savannah’s yard crane electrification and a project to refurbish the concrete wharf at the Port of Brunswick’s Mayor’s Point Terminal at a meeting Monday.    The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) board approved expenditures of up to $12.6 million for the third phase of the Port of Savannah’s yard crane electrification at a meeting Monday.
   The first two yard crane electrification phases involved 19 rubber-tired gantry cranes operating within the electrified rubber-tired gantry crane (eRTG) system. The third phase will add four container rows with 16 additional eRTGs. Each eRTG crane reduces diesel consumption by 95 percent per crane.
   The GPA deployed its first four eRTGs at the Port of Savannah in Dec. 2012, making it the first North American port operation to introduce the new equipment.
   The board also approved of a second project at its meeting to refurbish the concrete wharf at the Port of Brunswick’s Mayor’s Point Terminal, a dedicated breakbulk facility that specializes as a distribution center for a variety of forest and solid wood products.
   “The authority’s policy of continuous reinvestment in port infrastructure has allowed Georgia’s deepwater ports to accommodate unprecedented freight expansion,” Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz said in a statement. “Constant improvement in equipment and services helps Savannah maintain its position as the leading gateway to trade for the U.S. Southeast.”
   The Port of Savannah has moved 2.55 million TEUs since the start of 2015, a year-over-year increase of 16.6 percent.
   In August alone, the Port of Savannah moved 315,175 TEUs, an increase of 4.4 percent from last August.