Final phase of POLB’s Middle Harbor project scheduled for on time, on budget completion

Port of Long Beach

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) says it is on track to complete the final phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project, which includes completion of the port’s on-dock rail yard.

Construction of the $470-million Phase 3 will be complete in December 2020 with the terminal being commissioned by March 2021. All three phases of construction are expected to cost $1.493 billion. The first phase of the project was recognized as the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association 2015 Large Project of the Year.

The third and final phase of the project will develop the final 112 acres and includes the build out of the container yard, extending the wharf to its full length of 4,250 feet and completing the on-dock rail yard, which will lay an additional 54,000 linear feet of track to complete the terminal’s 73,000-foot network of on-dock rail.

POLB describes the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project as creating the world’s greenest container shipping terminal. Plans call for approximately 1.4 million cubic yards of dredge sediments to be reused as fill to support the construction of the last segments of the wharf and container yard. Additionally, the project will recycle demolished concrete and asphalt from the previous structures and paved areas to use as crushed miscellaneous base material for the foundation of the new yard pavement.

“Middle Harbor is a feat of engineering and a model of sustainability,” said Port Executive Director Mario Cordero. “Once the final phase is built and operating at full capacity, the Middle Harbor Terminal alone would rank as the nation’s sixth-busiest container port.”

Phase 3 work on the wharf and backlands began in February, the on-dock rail yard expansion started in March and recent milestones include the arrival of new ship-to-shore cranes 11 and 12 in early June. The port expects to begin the bidding process for the contract to build the administration offices in September. The latter will be the facility’s fifth green structure built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) sustainability standards.

Following completion of Phase 3 of the Middle Harbor project, POLB says it will focus on its next major capital project, considered the linchpin of the port’s rail network, the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility. The Pier B project calls for nearly $1 billion in investment to expand rail capacity, increase operational efficiency and further reduce emissions throughout the port by moving 35 percent or more of container cargo by rail instead of truck.