(SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) — Crowley Puerto Rico Services has announced that it is continuing to deliver on its commitment to Puerto Rico with the execution of an additional $21 million construction contract for improvements and upgrades at its Isla Grande port terminal in San Juan. It is the latest in a series of investments in support of the trade.
The construction contract was awarded to Del Valle Group S.P. of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, and includes expanding the terminal’s capacity for handling refrigerated containers; paving 15 acres to accommodate container stacking; installing a new electrical substation to provide power for three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes; constructing a new seven-lane terminal exit gate, and installing hardware required for a new, state-of-the-art terminal operating software system.
The contract is the third awarded that is associated with Crowley’s investment in its Isla Grande terminal in preparation for the arrival next year of the first of Crowley’s two new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Commitment-class ships now under construction in Pascagoula, Miss.
“We are very pleased to have this final contract awarded as part of the transformation of our terminal at Isla Grande,” said Jose “Pache” Ayala, Crowley vice president, Puerto Rico. “The improvements being made to the terminal will provide customers with faster gate times and overall shorter turn times for truckers in and out of the terminal. The overall improved efficiency we will be able to achieve will further enhance the excellent service our customers already receive.”
“We are equally pleased to choose a Puerto Rico-based construction company that will create private sector jobs on the island and keep the money in the local economy,” he said. “This type of direct investment in Puerto Rico is something very few companies are able to deliver.”
The terminal design has been developed over the past year by Crowley with Harbor Consulting Engineers Inc. of Seattle, Wash., as the lead design firm for the project, Wood Harbinger Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., as electrical engineers and AG Environmental PSC of San Juan as environmental engineers. Harbor is the engineer of record for the project, providing construction supervision services for its duration.
The latest contract follows a $48.5 million construction contract in 2015 for a new pier at the Isla Grande terminal. That investment by Crowley came after an agreement with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) for a 30-year lease extension for the Isla Grande property. That construction contract was awarded to L.P.C. & D. Inc. of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and includes the development of a new 900-by-114-foot concrete pier and all associated dredging for the Commitment-class ships. Crowley’s terminal expansion also includes the construction and installation of three new ship-to-shore container gantry cranes under a separate contract.
