After a year of record-breaking shipping activity, The Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor is embarking on a $32 million facilities expansion project that is expected, when completed, to attract companies competing in international markets, contribute billions of dollars to the local economy and drive significant future growth, according to port director Ryan McCoy.
“We were excited to celebrate another record year in 2022, but we believe the best is yet to come,” McCoy said.
Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority operating three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan, in the heart of the U.S. steel industry.
Burns Harbor opened in 1970, and, as one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes, handles ocean ships, lake vessels, river barges and interchanges with 16 railroads. There are more than 30 companies at the port, including three steel mills.
The port was built to move big cargo, hosting 84 vessels and 421 barges in 2022. It also handled more cargo than any other year in its 50-year history, shipping 3.45 million tons; two percent more than 2021 and 52 percent more than 2020. It also handled record volumes of foundry coke and minerals and set a record for steel products, and handled critical shipments of project cargo, machinery, box car movements of steel cargoes, and also increased the number of shipments of grain and limestone cargoes.
According to the port website, the complex contributes $5.2 billion per year to the Indiana economy, supports more than 30,000 jobs, and provides multimodal connections to world markets in the U.S.’s largest steel-producing region.
Two federal grants are funding the expansion, which includes construction of two rail yards, new bulk and general cargo terminals, a bulk warehouse and a truck marshalling yard.
The $9.85 million Burns Harbor Fastlane Grant is contributing to a $24.6 million project currently underway to improve dock, rail and truck facilities, adding a new bulk transload facility, rail storage, a new dock and a new truck marshalling yard.
One of six segments is complete, two are currently under construction, two are in bidding phase and the final segment is in design phase and anticipated to start this year, McCoy said.
The Burns Harbor Port Infrastructure Development Grant, providing $4 million towards an $8 million project, will convert a vacant 3.5-acre gravel yard into an 84,000-square foot bulk storage warehouse with an outdoor concrete storage area.
When the work is completed, the new cargo terminal will have multimodal connections for handling cargo transfers between ships, barges, rail cars and trucks. In addition, 4.4 miles will be added to the port’s existing 14-mile rail network. Improvements to the west dock, including extending a retaining wall and paving a dock apron, will result in an additional 1,200 feet of usable dock space.
Two new rail yards have already been completed, creating rail storage for 165 rail cars, accommodations for a 90-car unit train and providing rail car switching within the port, which has improved operating efficiencies for port companies.
Burns Harbor currently has 17 active shipping and receiving berths, two of which will be upgraded to handle additional steel and heavy project cargo.
The new six-acre truck marshalling yard will relieve congestion along port roads. It will allow tenants to send their trucks to an organized truck staging yard with identified parking. The trucks can turn off, recharge, refuel or clean idle.
McCoy said the expansion work will attract businesses that will “benefit from our efficient terminal operations, productive workforce and the competitive advantage created by our port’s strategic location that provides access to ocean vessels, river barges, 16 railroads and eight highways, all within 20 miles of Chicago.”
The port’s success, he added, “is dependent upon our customers, and we have a world-class group of companies that leverage our port’s unique resources to compete in world markets.”