By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT Ports of the Texas Gulf region are looking to benefit from projects to improve road, rail and ship channel access in addition to enhancements to on-port infrastructure. Serving a diverse range of interests, from the military to movers of bulk cargo and containers, Texas ports are preparing to meet the needs of an expanding regional population base. Here’s a port-by-port rundown of the latest developments at Texas Gulf ports, starting near the Louisiana state line and heading down the coast toward the Mexican border: Port of Port Arthur The Port of Port Arthur, which continues to rely upon the strength of wood pulp exports and kraft linerboard imports, is increasing its presence in the military market with the handling of tanks and other equipment, as well as with the planned conducting in the fall of training port exercises for troops heading to the Middle East. Also, the port is advancing discussions with three separate entities for bulk cargo usage of portions of a recently acquired 55-acre tract west of the Port of Port Arthur’s existing facilities on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, known in this area as the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel. The construction of major new energy-sector facilities in East Texas, which has accounted for numerous project cargo moves, appears to be moving ahead after economic conditions slowed progress. The largest of the facilities, a $7 billion refinery being built by Motiva Enterprises LLC, is now optimistically slated for completion by mid-2011. Also being built nearby are a $2 billion Valero Energy Corp. decoker and plant expansion and a $2 billion Total Petrochemicals USA Inc. hydrocracker. Port of Beaumont At the Port of Beaumont, which continues to be the nation’s busiest military port, construction is proceeding toward mid-2011 completion of a $10.5 million project that is to add about 40,000 feet of rail track at the port, while upgrading another 4,000 feet of track and adding new switches and other efficiency and safety enhancements. The project is designed to eliminate the need for the current off-port interchange yard, thus reducing downtown congestion while making riverfront property available for other uses. In Orange County, on a portion of a port-owned 240-acre tract on the east side of the Sabine-Neches Waterway, across from the rest of the Port of Beaumont’s docks, a $22 million project has resulted in a new wharf, to be augmented with connective road and rail infrastructure on which construction is to begin later this year. Port officials report that the Orange County wharf already has been successful beyond expectations, handling both import and export steel products, as well as shipments of wood chips. Port of Houston Infrastructure enhancements continue at the Port of Houston Authority, at which Alec G. Dreyer took over in September as executive director, succeeding the retired H. Thomas Kornegay. Dreyer, formerly chief executive officer of Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy, is leading port staff through a strategic planning process that includes a community outreach component, in anticipation of a more-than-doubling of the population of Texas to 50.6 million by 2040. Port officials have been encouraged by recent upturns in container traffic and other cargo activity. The Port of Houston, the nation’s No. 1 foreign commerce port, is completing this summer the Berth 3 project at the Bayport Container Terminal, bringing total berth length at the PHA’s newest container hub to 3,300 feet and adding three more super-post-Panamax cranes, taking Bayport’s total to nine cranes. In the port’s turning basin area, another project is entailing the dismantling of outmoded sheds to afford 1,200 feet of open dock area for laydown of steel and other cargos. Future plans include development, in conjunction with the Port of Galveston, of containerized cargo facilities on Pelican Island – an initiative currently in the early conceptual desi