S.C. State Ports Authority awards contract for Navy Base Terminal

The S.C. State Ports Authority awarded a $42.7 million contract to a Massachusetts-based firm to begin filling the site of a future container terminal on the former Navy Base.

The board approved the contract Friday during a teleconference.

“The completion of the Navy Base Terminal, along with the Charleston Harbor deepening project, demonstrates that South Carolina understands what the industry’s future demands are, and we will be ready to meet them,” said Bill Stern, chairman of the ports authority board. “The new terminal and a deepened harbor are both essential to fulfill our mission of economic development and serve our customers’ needs for the foreseeable future.”

The board awarded the contract to Jay Cashman, a Massachusetts-based firm that was also the lead contractor on the demolition of the Cooper River bridges. Jay Cashman also helped build the containment wall, which cost $44 million, at the Navy Base Terminal.

Work will begin next month.

The contract calls for about 1.75 million cubic yards of dredged material to be ferried by water from Daniel Island to the terminal. Crews will put the fill behind the containment wall and on the upland side of the Navy Base Terminal. Jay Cashman also will consolidate part of the site with the installation of about 5.7 million feet of vertical wick drains.

The project is expected to finish in January 2014 and will overlap with the next fill contract, which is expected to begin in late 2013.

Once completed, the 280-acre Navy Base Terminal will increase the Port of Charleston’s container capacity by 50%. The terminal is the only permitted new container terminal under construction on the East and Gulf coasts.