By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT Port authorities along the Gulf Coast of Florida are gearing up to benefit from Panama Canal expansion and local industrial development with new and expanded facilities. Recent legislative developments impacting all 15 Florida deepwater ports, including those of the Gulf, include signing into law by Gov. Rick Scott of S.B. 1998, the Transportation Appropriations Conforming Bill, which, along with related measures, creates the Strategic Port Investment Initiative with a minimum of $35 million and nearly doubles, to $15 million, minimum funding for the Florida Seaport Transportation Economic Development (FSTED) program. Looking individually at Florida Gulf ports, beginning at Tampa Bay and moving to the northwest along the Florida Panhandle: Port ManateeThe final elements of a $200 million expansion initiative begun in 1997 are slated to be ready by mid-2013, well in advance of the anticipated completion of the Panama Canal expansion project in late 2014 or early 2015. Near the entrance to Tampa Bay, the 1,100-acre Port Manatee is being marketed as the closest U.S. deepwater port to the Panama Canal. The Manatee County Port Authority recently approved a $13 million contract with American Bridge Co. for a 584-foot extension of Berth 12 and a 10-acre container yard that are to bring the port its first dedicated container facility. CH2M Hill is providing construction-phase engineering services. With a 1,584-foot-long berth with 40-foot draft, the container facility is to be capable of handling Panamax-sized ships. Carlos Buqueras, formerly director of business development at Port Everglades in Broward County, Fla., took over in January as executive director of the Manatee County Port Authority, succeeding David L. McDonald, who has retired after 19 years as executive director. Buqueras has been busy traveling to Latin America and Europe as part of efforts to drum up new business for the port. Port of TampaRail and roadway projects to enhance intermodal efficiency and connectivity for the Port of Tampa are moving forward at Florida’s No. 1 cargo tonnage port. Projected for completion this fall is the Tampa Gateway Rail facility, which is designed to provide capacity for 100-car unit trains of ethanol arriving from the Midwest while also putting in place at the Port of Tampa’s container terminal the Sunshine State’s first on-dock unit train rail service. The Tampa Port Authority’s partners in the $10.9 million endeavor, to feature 13,244 linear feet of rail infrastructure, include CSX Corp. and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. Incremental expansion of the port’s container terminal also is planned, and the port’s primary petroleum terminal complex is undergoing a $45 million modernization and expansion. Meanwhile, the roadway project, which includes an elevated interchange and a dedicated truck ramp to seamlessly link port truck traffic with the Interstate highway system, is about two-thirds complete and on target for late 2013 completion. The $568 million I-4 Crosstown Connector is a priority initiative of the Florida Department of Transportation. Port CitrusIn Citrus County, some 90 miles north of Tampa and 40 miles west-southwest of Ocala, officials are looking to move forward with a feasibility study for new port development along the 15-foot-deep Cross Florida Barge Canal. In mid-April, the Citrus County Port Authority selected Lancaster, Pa.-based Martin Associates, led by prodigious maritime industry economist Dr. John C. Martin, from among six competing firms for negotiation of a contract and scope of services to perform the $100,000 study. Half the study cost is to come from FSTED Council, with the remainder from county funds. County officials, who said the feasibility would likely take between three months and six months to conduct, envision having ready by the Panama Canal expansion completion a marine facility that could be linked to an inland port distribution complex in the Ocala area. Port of P