FT LAUDERDALE | Port Everglades

[LexISguy]

Originally Posted by Miami High Rise

You can't get in to Port Lauderdale without a valid reason and it's not visible from a main road. But yes, they are very large. One time I accidentally went down the road to it that doesn't have a u-turn before the gate, and they took my license while I did a u-turn beyond the gate.

http://malcolmoliver.files.wordpress...11/allure2.jpg

Before 9/11 access into and out of the port was easy, Burt and Jacks Restaurant was located at mid port then after September 11th was closed due to security concerns.

[skyscraperhighrise]

Originally Posted by LexISguy

Before 9/11 access into and out of the port was easy, Burt and Jacks Restaurant was located at mid port then after September 11th was closed due to security concerns.

Smooth Cruise Ship.

[mr jones]

Big cargo ships bring big changes to Port Everglades


The MSC Texas is the largest cargo ship ever to call at Port Everglades. It represents a new wave of massive cargo vessels called post-Panamax, which are capable of navigating the wider and deeper Panama Canal which will open next year. (Ginny Dixon, correspondent) (Ginny Dixon, Correspondent / October 23, 2012)



By Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel
5:39 a.m. EDT, October 23, 2012

The coming wave of transoceanic shipping steamed into Port Everglades early Monday morning and tied up at Berth 32.

And it is big.

The aptly-named MSC Texas, the largest cargo ship ever to call at the port, is a forerunner of what's to come: massive oceangoing vessels plying trade between continents, utilizing an expanded Panama Canal for transit.

"Given this trend, we fully expect larger vessels, such as the MSC Texas, to frequently call at Port Everglades in the future, especially once the Panama Canal is expanded," Port Director Steven Cernak said Monday.

But for the port to accommodate the larger ships, which fully loaded require 47 feet of water, it must dig deeper channels. A dredging project, first discussed 15 years ago, is under review by the Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to release its findings next month.

The MSC Texas, at 1,095 feet long equal in length to an aircraft carrier, is owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company, among the largest container shipping firms in the world. Its black hull hugged the dock Monday as one crane busily removed containers and another one loaded them. The vessel is capable of carrying 8,238, 20-foot containers, stacked 10 high in the hold below deck, and 10 high above on the 141-foot wide deck.

Because it requires a draft of 47 feet when fully laden, the MSC Texas arrived lightly loaded, about 2,000 containers short of a full cargo. The containers were stacked only seven high on deck Monday — still a dizzying height — because the port's cranes can only reach that high.

The port will be getting two new cranes capable of reaching containers 10 high, another concession to the larger ships that are expected to loom on the horizon once a broader Panama Canal opens in 2014.

The canal is being widened with a second shipping lane to double its vessel capacity, allowing more and larger ships to transit its length. Ports along the U.S. East Coast are undergoing modifications to handle those bigger vessels, called "post-Panamax" ships.

"This is anticipated to open up a lot of business for South Florida," said Ellen Kennedy, the port's manager of corporate and community relations.

"Port Everglades, as well as other Florida ports, are going to see increases in vessel size," said Cernak, who assumed the port director position in March. "We have to provide the ability to allow these larger vessels to come here."

That ability could come if the Army Corps approves a project to dredge port channels to a depth of 50 feet from its current average depth of 42 feet. Cost for the project would approach $320 million, with the port paying for $131 million through fees collected from visiting ships. The Corps, in a preliminary study, said the port could see a return of $1.56 for every dollar spent on dredging.

Deepening port channels could create 5,862 jobs in the short term, and 1,491 steady jobs by 2027, the Corps said.

The port is already home to the world's largest cruise ships, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, but they don't require the water depth of heavily loaded cargo ships.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...,6906629.story

[ftlauddude]

From Port Everglades' construction website:

Intermodal Container Transfer Facilty (ICTF)

The new rail yard, called an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF), will make it possible for cargo containers to be directly transferred between ships and railcars to take an estimated 180,000 truck trips a year off roads by 2029, which will reduce traffic congestion and harmful air emissions. Drivers who are commonly delayed at the railroad crossing at S.R. 84 and Andrews Avenue will directly benefit because the trains will be put together at Port Everglades instead of at the rail yard on Andrews Avenue. This ICTF, which will be built and operated by the Florida East Coast Railway, will be the first on-port rail yard in the United States to process both domestic and internationals cargoes. Florida East Coast Railway is investing $53 million to build and will operate the ICTF. Broward County's Port Everglades Department, which is a self-supporting Enterprise Fund that does not rely on local tax dollars, contributed 42.5 acres of land for the ICTF which is valued at $19 million.

Status: Groundbreaking on January 17, 2013.
Estimated completion: mid-2014.

http://www.porteverglades.net/about-us/construction/