Barge proposal aims to reduce Port of Charleston truck traffic
David Wren — The Post and Courier
Charleston port officials hope barges will one day ease truck congestion at the busy Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant.
The State Ports Authority, which operates the Port of Charleston, has applied for a permit to extend the north end of the terminal’s existing 3,800-foot-long wharf by another 700 feet to establish barge operations along the Cooper and Wando rivers.
Under the proposal, imported cargo would be taken off ships and moved to the terminal’s container yard before being placed on barges and hauled to a site near a North Charleston rail yard being built by Palmetto Railways. Trains would then transport the freight. Export cargo would follow the reverse route.
Palmetto Railways, a division of the state’s Commerce Department, plans to open the $291 million rail yard by 2021. It will be connected via a private road to the authority’s new Leatherman Terminal, expected to open about the same time.
The barge proposal “incorporates the efficient movement of freight, reduces traffic on existing highways and creates an environmental benefit, because a barge moving 200-plus containers creates fewer emissions than 200 trucks,” said Barbara Melvin, the authority’s chief operating officer.
“We think there are great benefits that should be realized both among the community, the environment and operationally,” she said.
The authority plans to meet with neighborhood associations and community groups in coming months to outline the plan before moving forward.
“If this is not palatable to the community and we are unable to extend the wharf, we will not be able to pursue it,” Melvin said, adding that initial responses have been positive.
The authority’s proposal would require dredging about 1.1 million cubic yards of soil and other material to build an access channel to extend the berth. The authority also would place about 25,000 cubic yards of rip-rap and armor stone to protect the wharf extension and adjacent shoreline from erosion.
The authority “has not proposed compensatory mitigation to offset potential impacts to aquatic resources on the project site,” the Army Corps said in a public notice. “However, the proposed project is expected to reduce truck traffic on local roadways, the potential for roadway accidents and air quality emissions” related to truck traffic.
About 210,000 containers at Wando Welch are moved by trucks to local rail yards each year. The authority estimates that number will grow to 350,000 containers annually within 30 years. The barge program could take roughly 200,000 of those containers off local roads, according to the permit application.
No cost estimate has been prepared for the project, which is dependent on the future opening of the Leatherman Terminal and Palmetto Railways facility.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation designated the barge route as a marine highway, making the barge proposal eligible for federal grants.
