US DOT Selects Winners of $703M in Port Infrastructure Grants

Port of Alaska in Anchorage won the largest single grant for a project to reconfigure and realign the shoreline.

Photo by Mario Calabro/U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has chosen 41 port projects to share a record $703 million in the latest round of its Port Infrastructure Development grants program. The funds are spread among 22 states and American Samoa.

The latest grants, announced on Oct. 28, are supported by $450 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, plus $234 million from the fiscal year 2022 omnibus appropriations law and $19 million in reallocated 2021 appropriations.

Alaska received the largest dollar amount—$112.5 million for four separate projects. It also won the largest single grant, $68.7 million, for reconfiguring and realigning the shoreline at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage.

That port is engaged in a $1.85-billion,10-year capital improvement program.

"This grant award comes at a crucial time for the Port of Alaska and Municipality, as we work to rebuild and modernize Alaska's most important piece of infrastructure," Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson said in a statement.

Bronson added that the new Maritime Administration grant "will ensure we permanently fix the north end of the port."

He said, "Progress like this puts us one step closer to delivering food security for Alaska through a seismically resilient and modern Port of Alaska."

California received the largest number of grants among the states, with six. The grants total $93.3 million and will go toward projects at ports in Crescent City, Eureka, Long Beach, Oakland, San Francisco and Stockton.

Washington state ranked second, with five grants totaling $71.5 million. Its projects are in Aberdeen, La Conner, Olympia, Port Angeles and Seattle.

U.S. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement that the grants will “improve our port infrastructure, strengthen our supply chains and help cut costs for American families.”

The group of selected projects also reflect other Biden administration priorities. For example, DOT said more than 60% of the awards will go to ports in disadvantaged communities, and several will help cut carbon emissions in those areas.

In addition, almost $100 million will go for projects to assist development of offshore wind power.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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