Port of Houston funds channel work, other items

Port of Houston funds channel work, other items Port of Houston Authority commissioners this week approved a $5 million multiyear service contract supporting work connected to the Houston Ship Channel and associated beneficial use sites work.
   At its regular meeting on Tuesday the commission approved a contract to a joint venture between TCB Inc./Gahagan & Bryant Associates Inc. for engineering and design services, construction management services, project coordination team representation, geotechnical services, surveying marsh management and other general assistance for the Houston Ship Channel and beneficial use sites for five years.
   Commissioners approved advertising and receipt of proposals to purchase an optical character recognition system for use at Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals for $2.2 million. The two terminals process an average of 4,000 container transactions per day through the truck processing gates at both facilities. The port said integration of OCR into the gate process will improve trucker efficiencies and reduce turn times, eliminate mistakes with data entry and reduce idling time for trucks.
   The commission also approved advertising and receipt of proposals to purchase Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) readers and associated equipment and software licenses for the turning basin and Barbours Cut terminals. The equipment will assist in addressing the requirement of the TWIC implementation scheduled by April 14.