Lewiston port to receive $1.3 million federal TIGER grant

The Port of Lewiston – Idaho’s only seaport – will receive a $1.3 million federal grant to expand its dock and increase its cargo-handling capacity.

It was among 47 transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive the latest round of TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) funds. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the grant recipients Monday as part of the federal economic recovery program.

Funds will enable the Port of Lewiston to extend its docks to accommodate more and larger barges navigating the Columbia/Snake river system. The project, expected to be done in 2013, will extend the existing dock 150 feet, enabling two barges to load/unload at the port simultaneously.

Total cost of the extension is estimated to be $2.9 million, with the balance of funding to come from the port district’s reserves and loans. Construction is scheduled for next summer.

Expansion and increased cargo handling capabilities could create 48 new jobs if port container shipments increase from 3,653 in 2011 to a projected 16,000 annually, according to a news article in the Lewiston Tribune, citing information from port manager David Doeringsfeld.

Agricultural commodities constitute much of the out-bound cargo from the port, including shipment of wheat, lentils, dried peas and garbanzo beans. The port also ships paper products down the Snake and Columbia rivers to West Coast and foreign markets.

The port expansion is the only project in Idaho chosen under the latest round of federal TIGER grants that totaled $500 million nationwide.

Of those grants, nearly half will go to critical projects in rural states.

Highway and bridge projects will account for about 35 percent of the total grant funds; 16 percent will support transit projects;13 percent will augment high-speed and intercity passenger rail; and the remaining 36 percent will be shared evenly by freight rail projects, multimodal (bicycle and pedestrian projects) and port projects (12 percent each).

Three grants also were directed to tribal governments to create jobs and address transportation needs on Indian land.

Like three previous rounds of TIGER grants, the latest is designated for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure and is awarded on a highly competitive basis.

In those four rounds of funding, $3.1 billion went to 218 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The USDOT received more than 4,050 applications requesting more than $105.2 billion

The federal transportation bill under consideration by Congress this week includes an additional $500 million for a future round of TIGER grants. The current authorization will expire Saturday unless a new transportation bill is approved or another extension is authorized.

Published 6-29-2012