Intermodal terminal at Green Bay port to be studied
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay announced Tuesday that it had secured a $55,000 research grant from the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute to conduct a two-year study into the feasibility of developing the Port of Green Bay's first dedicated intermodal terminal.
Officials from the small Great Lakes bulk cargo port will work with university staff and students to complete the study.
The port is ranked 105th in the nation by cargo tonnage, handling just over 2.6 million tons of cargo each year, mainly in bulk raw materials. Just over 2.1 million tons of cargo moved through the port each year is domestic in origin with the remaining 500,000 tons a year being foreign imports. While small in tonnage volume, the port's foreign imports are valued at about $50 million per year.
The study will look at:
* What products or commodities would best be suited for containerized transport through the port.
* The viability of connecting Green Bay intermodal operations through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
* Documenting shipper requirements and interest in shifting to marine service.
* Determining if demand to support intermodal operations at the port exist.
While the port officials said that some infrastructure to develop a container terminal does exist, a container terminal would still be a multi-million dollar investment.
One possible location for a container terminal is a 27-acre man-made island which sits several hundred yards off the Green Bay shore and was created with material dredged from the nearby Fox River.
