Georgia Ports Authority

The Georgia Ports Authority, which was founded in 1945,[2] operates port facilities in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Georgia Ports Authority
AbbreviationGPA
TypeAgency
HeadquartersSavannah, Georgia, United States
Location
Chairman of the board
Jimmy Allgood[1]
Websitewww.gaports.com
The Garden City Terminal

Georgia's primary deepwater ports are located in Savannah and Brunswick, supplemented by an inland container transload facility.

Facilities

The Port of Savannah comprises two major facilities:

  • Garden City Terminal is the fourth-busiest container handling facility in the United States, encompassing more than 1,200 acres and moving millions of tons of containerized cargo annually.[3]
  • Ocean Terminal, Savannah's dedicated breakbulk and roll-on/roll-off facility, covers 200.4 acres and has more than 1.4 million square feet of covered storage.[4]

The Port of Brunswick includes three GPA-owned deepwater terminals, two of which are directly operated by the GPA.

  • Colonel's Island Terminal has three roll-on/roll-off berths and four on-terminal auto processors, handling cargo for more than 60 auto and heavy machinery manufacturers. The terminal is also home to a bulk export/import operation.
  • Mayor's Point Terminal specializes in handling forest products, while Marine Port Terminals, operated by Logistec U.S.A., specializes in the handling of breakbulk and bulk commodities

Georgia Ports Authority opened the Appalachian Regional Port, a container truck-to-rail transload facility in Murray County, Georgia, in August 2018. The inland port serves additional markets in Alabama and Tennessee and is connected to the Port of Savannah by a 388-mile railroad route.[5]

Economic impact

According to a report from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, Georgia's ports supported 439,220 full- and part-time jobs throughout Georgia as of 2017, or about 9 percent of total state employment, with personal income of about $25 billion.[6][7] According to the report, port activity accounted for about $106 billion in statewide sales.[7] Tax revenue stemming from port trade totaled $5.9 billion in federal taxes, $1.4 billion in state taxes, and $1.5 billion in local taxes.[7]

Savannah Harbor Expansion Project

The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project is an in-progress dredging program to deepen the harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet. The depth will allow large ships that are coming through the Panama Canal to call on the Port of Savannah. While some of these Neo-Panamax ships already call Savannah, they are not loaded to capacity.[8] As of February 2018, the project, which began in 2015, was about halfway completed.[9] The remaining work is expected to be finished by 2021, and will allow loaded ships to transport about 3,600 additional cargo containers through the harbor on each passage.[10]

The project is estimated to cost a total of about $973 million, of which 75% is provided by the federal government, with the remainder from the state of Georgia.[8]

In September 2018, Savannah Now reported that officials thought the Talmadge Bridge may need to be replaced if the port was to service Neo-Panamax vessels.[11]

References
  1. Railroading, Progressive. "Georgia Ports Authority elects Allgood chair, adopts FY2017 budget".
  2. "This Day in Georgia History - Georgia Ports Authority Created - GeorgiaInfo". georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  3. "Garden City Terminal". gaports.com. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  4. "Georgia Ports Authority > Port of Savannah > Ocean Terminal". gaports.com. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  5. "Northwest Georgia inland port to open Aug. 1 [photos]". timesfreepress.com. 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  6. "Around Georgia: Study says state's ports are a jobs powerhouse". politics.myajc. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  7. Komanecky, DeAnn. "Study: One in 11 Georgia jobs related to Savannah, Brunswick ports". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  8. Nussbaum, Katie. "Trump Administration, Corps funds keep Savannah harbor expansion on track". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  9. "Savannah District > Missions > Civil Works > Savannah Harbor Expansion". www.sas.usace.army.mil. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  10. "House passes key bills funding Savannah Harbor Expansion Project". Northwest Georgia News. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  11. DeAnn Komanecky (2018-09-20). "Savannah's Talmadge Bridge may need replacement for bigger ships". Savannah Now. Retrieved 2018-11-20. A portion of GPA’s plans include a goal of doubling the container capacity of the Garden City Terminal and the possible replacement of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge that spans the Savannah River.
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