Another record-shattering fiscal year for the Georgia Ports Authority recently capped a decade as America’s fastest-growing container port. We shipped more total tonnage, container cargo, vehicles and large machinery, intermodal containers and bulk cargo than ever before. We are more focused than ever to leverage the good fortune of demographics and geography with planning, investment and environmentally sustainable practices.
Georgia is fortunate that our ports are located in the largest demographic area of the country. The Southeast represents about 45 percent of the U.S. population. Economists tell us it will be the fastest-growing region of the country for the next half century. We’re also blessed with good geography. The port is upriver, away from Savannah’s historic district; 100 miles closer to Atlanta than any other port, and served by two on-terminal railroads and highways in close proximity.
But more than population and location are fueling growth at the Port of Savannah. We are poised to nearly double our capacity without expanding our footprint because we’ve planned and invested – even through the Great Recession – and anticipated the opportunity.
The Georgia Ports Authority will spend about $1.3 billion over the next 10 years to continue to modernize our ports, expand them to handle more freight and do so in a more sustainable, technologically advanced fashion. The capital we invest will not be state or municipal funding. It will be funds generated by the Georgia Ports Authority (or debt we will issue and service with such revenue). We’ll invest about $100 million a year back into our local communities in capital expenditures.
We will continue to build for future growth. We will expand the number of large ship-to-shore cranes from 22 to 30, for example, and rubber-tire gantry cranes from 116 to 169. As we face unanticipated spikes in volume like we’re experiencing now, we won’t subject our customers to the congestion they experience elsewhere. They consistently turn to Savannah because we handle cargo efficiently and effectively.
Recently, our board approved spending $1 million to make one portion of our land-side terminal more dense – going from four to five storage lanes on the same footprint. That 20 percent gain will be significant. It is the sort of thing we’ve done over and over again to grow without expanding to more land. In the past year, we also invested in 20 new electric cranes that will pay for themselves in six years, reducing our carbon footprint by 96 percent per crane and avoiding the use of millions of gallons of diesel fuel annually. We reduced our energy consumption by nearly 60 percent with new outdoor lighting. And we’ve reduced fuel consumption by 50 percent per container over the past decade.
Our efficiency extends beyond the port’s boundaries, thanks to the connectivity in which Georgia is investing. Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly are funding improved highway connectivity. Transportation infrastructure improvements such as the Jimmy Deloach Parkway Extension will bring I-95 directly into the port, reducing driving time and congestion.
Georgia aims to lead the way in improving our aging national maritime infrastructure. As the gateway to the Southeast and beyond, we are part of a network of East Coast ports including Charleston, Norfolk (serving the Midwest) and New York/New Jersey (serving the Northeast). Anticipating growth of more than 50 percent in the coming decade, we may eclipse the Big Apple before too long to become No. 1 in the East.
Curtis Foltz is executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority.
