With another $13 million in new security improvements, the SC State Ports Authority (SCSPA) is pumping more than $60 million into the local economy through recent construction projects and is preparing to bid another $60-million project.

At its monthly Board meeting today, the SCSPA Board awarded two contracts to area businesses totaling $13 million.  This brings the total to more than $60 million in recently awarded construction projects to companies in the region. The work covers paving projects, demolition work and site preparation.

“This is great news for the local economy,” said Bernard S. Groseclose, Jr., president & CEO of the SCSPA.  “We continue to evaluate our capital projects, but these projects are certainly a bright spot in the local market – they’re putting people to work.”

In addition, the SCSPA announced that a major project associated with the construction of the new Navy Base terminal is coming down the pike.

In early February, the SCSPA will go out for bids on a multi-million contract for the construction of a 5,000-foot-long containment structure out to the main shipping channel. The containment structure will be built in preparation for the placement of fill material in the tideland area of the new terminal.

Construction of the containment wall is expected to begin in the summer of 2009 and take 15 months to complete. The project is an essential next step to ensure that the terminal’s first phase stays on schedule for a November 2014 completion.

“We’ll be ready when the tide turns,” Groseclose said. “The opening of the new terminal directly coincides with the opening of the Panama Canal’s expanded locks. Charleston has the deepest water on the Southeast coast and is uniquely positioned to handle the larger ships associated with the new locks.”

The SCSPA awarded an $11.9-million contract for security infrastructure to Gulf Stream and a $1.6-million project to I-Sys for security video systems. Both companies are located in North Charleston.