By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOT The Port of New Jersey and New York is an important entry point for goods from Asia, Europe and South America. One container vessel can easily carry up to 4,000 containers and more than 50 of them reportedly to come through the port each week. Like so many seaports up and down the East Coast, the expansion of the Panama Canal, which will open in 2014, is having a big impact at the Port of New York/New Jersey. Consequently, the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey (PANYNJ) is addressing how it should prepare for the large post-Panamax vessels capable of carrying as many as 10,000 TEUS, points to several necessary solutions. One is the necessary updating of its harbor infrastructure so that the long-declining waterfront industry is prepared to experience the new boom in container traffic. While many seaports like Charleston and Savannah face dredging issues to make their ports capable of providing 50-foot deep water to accommodate the huge ships, the New York /New Jersey port area faces a problem with air draft restrictions, particular with the Bayonne Bridge. Currently, the bridge, which crosses over the Kill Van Kull shipping channel and connects Staten Island to Bayonne, has a 151-foot air draft restriction that is a serious obstacle for ships doing business with Port Newark, the Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminals in New Jersey, and at Howland Hook on Staten Island, New York. What is needed is for the height of the bridge to be raised to approximately 215 feet, which would allow for the deployment of the Post-Panamax ships. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that raising the bridge would produce an estimated $3.3-billion dollar national benefit, which is independent (i.e., above and beyond) of the benefits available from the completion of 50-foot harbor deepening project. This is based on 12 percent of all U.S. international containers passing under the bridge, say little of the economic role the ports play for the New York City-Newark region. According to the New York Shipping Association, Inc., the ports generate over 269,900 direct and indirect jobs and nearly $11 billion in annual wages. The Port Authority has applied to the federal government for fast-track environmental permitting for the bridge-raising project, which could shave six months off the completion time, experts say. If the project is fast tracked, work could be completed sometime in 2016. Meanwhile, the Port Authority is studying ways to accommodate more intermodal traffic, the end result of more containers arriving by ship on the larger Post-Panamax vessels and a solution to alleviating escalating truck traffic in an already congested by road traffic. Improving the rail network around the region’s container port terminals is key to capitalizing on an anticipated doubling of cargo shipments over the next decade. Port authority officials, in fact, say they plan to improve the overall efficiency in the port region by increasing the percentage of rail-transported cargo to 20 percent, from 12 percent. Part of that effort is the $600 million ship-to-rail container facility in Jersey City known as Express Rail Port Jersey. That facility will bring the port region’s annual rail capacity to 1 million containers, up from 400,000. Terminal Developments Further, ports are being revamped so as to accommodate more containers. For example, $650 million in upgrades at Port Elizabeth, located close to Newark International Airport, include improvements to its thirty-year-old wharf at Berths 82 through 98. These upgrades that involved increased crane capacity and mooring loads as well as water depth at the wharf face, make it possible for the port to handle the next generation of container vessels. The Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) plans to invest $500 million into its expansion, making it one of the largest infrastructure projects in New Jersey. That expansion is expected to double the number of containers moving through the terminal, creating signi