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Officials at the Port of South Louisiana in LaPlace often boast about having the largest tonnage port and being the top port in export tonnage in the United States.
Executive director Joel Chaisson said there are more opportunities for growth in cargo activity and economic development along the 54-mile stretch of the Mississippi River.
Chaisson's expansion plans should spur the growth.
In two months, the Port of South Louisiana will award a $6- million contract for a 40,000 square-foot bulk warehouse at the Globalplex Intermodal Terminal. The public terminal is a 335-acre maritime industrial park owned by the Port and operated by Associated Terminals and Kinder Morgan. It facilitates ships and barges by providing handling and storage for bulk, breakbulk and containerized cargoes.
The Port of South Louisiana handled 242 million tons of cargo in 2005, down 2 percent from the 248 million tons in 2004.
"This new warehouse will just give us a greater storage capacity to bring cargo in and out of the Port," said Chaisson.
The Port just completed a $5.7-million, 72,000 square-foot transit shed/warehouse at Globalplex to handle rail and truck shipments simultaneously.
Chaisson said the Port will add a pier to the cargo dock to handle more than one ship at a time. The Port received financing from a $9-million grant over three years from the Port Construction and Development Priority program...