MAJOR INITIATIVES Savannah Harbor Expansion Project The completion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) is the number one strategic priority for the Georgia Ports Authority and its valued customers and is critically important to economic growth in Georgia and the southeastern United States. This project will deepen the river from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet at mean low water. The federal navigation channel in Savannah is utilized by more than 20 private businesses and associated terminals in addition to the Georgia Ports Authority terminals. The Port of Savannah ranks as the fourth largest container port in the nation, with approximately 44% of the United States population living within the Authority’s service region. As the largest container port in the Southeast, the Port of Savannah is responsible for moving over 9.0% of the U.S. overseas containerized cargo. The volume to be handled at the Georgia Ports Authority is projected to increase by more than 47% by 2030. While cargo has grown, so has the size of the ships. The Authority proposed in 1996 to deepen the Savannah River to more efficiently handle these larger container vessels. With the completion of the Panama Canal improvements in 2016, now even larger container vessels are calling the U.S. East Coast. These larger vessels provide increased efficiencies and reduced costs for the American consumer. In May 2019, the largest Evergreen vessel, the Triton, called on the Port of Savannah. At a capacity of over 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units, the Triton is one of the largest ships ever to call on the U.S. East Coast. Currently, approximately 80% of the containerized cargo vessels that call on the Port of Savannah are unable to load to their maximum design draft and call at any tide. To prepare the US marine transportation system for more and larger of these deeper draft vessels, the Savannah River will be deepened to accommodate them. SHEP received the last of all required federal and state regulatory approvals in 2013. On June 10, 2014, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 was signed into law, thereby allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed to construction on the project. Since then, dredging on the entrance channel is nearing conclusion and several components of the project have completed including acquisition of property for wetlands mitigation, payment for striped bass stocking program, the removal of the CSS Georgia from the channel and the initial dike raising for the project. Contracts for other project features have been awarded. Among the features under construction are the upriver oxygen injection system and a freshwater diversion structure. The final dredging contract should be awarded in late 2019 for completion in January of 2022. While the authorized cost of the SHEP was estimated at $706 million in 2014, a mandated update resulted in an increased cost due to the awards of several contracts at higher-than-estimated amounts and increased expenses and price levels effected by the length of time for the project. The new cost of $1.019 billion was authorized by Congress as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2018. The economics analysis was also updated resulting in an increased benefit-to-cost ratio of 7.3 to 1, one of the highest of any deep draft navigation project for the Corps of Engineers. Mason Mega Rail In addition to SHEP, the Georgia Ports Authority’s expansion plans include the development of significant rail infrastructure. In March 2018, the Georgia Ports Authority broke ground on the new Mason Mega Rail project. When this facility begins to come on-line in FY 2020, it will be the largest on-port rail terminal in North America which will provide a new supply chain option directly to America’s Midwest. The Mason Mega Rail, specifically designed to efficiently handle 10,000-foot unit trains by both major rail carriers, will have 18 working tracks, a lift capacity of 1 million containers per year and nearly 180,000 feet of track. The rail facility will also include the installation of eight (8) rail mounted gantry cranes that will provide a more cost effective and safer method of transferring cargo to the intermodal trains. Shippers in major markets from Memphis to St. Louis and Chicago to Cincinnati will experience greater efficiencies and reduced transit times to and from Savannah's growing intermodal hub. In many instances, cargo will avoid rail hub layovers, pick up a full day, and in turn open new markets and opportunities for shippers. iii
