Racing To Keep Up, U.S. Ports Must Be Green, Lean and Connected

摘要

Construction cranes work side by side with ship cranes these days at U.S. ports, where containerized cargo traffic is expected to increase by 350% in the next 20 years. With limited funds, designers and builders of port facilities are trying to move countless shipping containers through the ports and onto the nation's highway and rail networks as quickly and safely as possible. It's a difficult task. "There have never been this many things changing at once," says Larry Nye, vice president of port planning for Mof-fatt & Nichol, Long Beach, Calif. Today's planners face an "unprecedented" combination of economic, environmental, security and technological challenges, he says. Asian countries generate more than 53% of container traffic to the U.S., and "the West Coast is not going to be able to handle all this business," says Nye. Congestion surrounding the two U.S. giants—Los Angeles and Long Beach— plus a two-week longshoremen's strike in 2002 have pushed major shippers to look for alternatives. As Long Beach caps work on a $585-million new terminal, other ports are pumping up construction to attract and handle shipper business.