Port Awards $71.4 Million Pier T Contract

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday, May 21, awarded the last major contract for the first phase of the Terminal Island Pier T container terminal -- the Port of Long Beach's first mega-terminal project.

Commissioners awarded a $71.4 million contract to Griffith Co. of Santa Fe Springs to construct an on-dock intermodal rail yard, complete Pier T's 260-acre first phase, and bring in fill material to re-grade the site for the 115-acre second phase. Griffith was the lowest of eight firms bidding for the contract.

The $525 million Pier T terminal, which will be leased to Hanjin Shipping Co. of South Korea, is being built at the site of the former Long Beach Naval Station and Naval Shipyard. The first phase is on schedule to open by July 2002, with the final 115 acres opening by mid-2003. Hanjin will be moving from its current terminal at the port, the 170-acre Pier A facility north of Terminal Island.

Griffith's construction job is expected take a year to complete, and will include 83,000 feet of railroad tracks for the intermodal yard, placement of 425,000 tons of asphalt and concrete, and installation of enough electrical outlets to accommodate 1,100 refrigerated containers.

Construction of the dockside gantry cranes by Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. of China is also on schedule. Steel has been ordered and is being delivered to ZPMC's fabrication plant outside Shanghai. Preparation and cutting of the steel is anticipated to begin by June 1. Two of the 12 cranes ordered to date are scheduled to arrive in Long Beach in February 2002.