| Riverport project on schedule |
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Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2012 9:04 pm
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MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VIEW — This was the view a group of more than 40 officials from across the region was given Wednesday morning as part of a tour of Cates Landing north of Tiptonville.
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By KEVIN BOWDEN
Staff Reporter
Key officials from across the region got a first-hand view of the work going on at Cates Landing on Wednesday — aboard a bright yellow school bus.
A 40-minute meeting at the port site just north of Tiptonville was followed by a tour of Cates Landing.
Officials packed the Lake County school bus that transported the group along the top of the dry levee to the port site.
The multi-million dollar port project is on track to be completed by the end of the year.
Officials involved with Cates Landing continue to bring up the fact that the port project is under budget and is running on time.
Once open, the Mississippi River port will serve as a significant economic development project serving the entire northwest Tennessee region. Barges will be able to pick up and deliver goods from the intermodal port, which will capitalize on its planned Free Trade Zone status and its geographic proximity to 76 percent of the country’s major markets.
Wednesday’s tour of the port site revealed some significant developments.
Workers are continuing to pour Type B fill at the dock site, crews are installing gravel paving at the site and there has been significant progress made on the installation of concrete paved roadways and the creation of a concrete pad for a planned 40,000-square-foot industrial warehouse.
The warehouse will be built by Universal Contracts of Union City, which has also been hired to build the new port office, security fencing, storm shelter and an identification monument. In total, the port authority is spending nearly $1.9 million for the work being done by Universal Contractors.
Those who participated in the port tour Wednesday were duly impressed with the progress being made on the Cates Landing project. After months of verbal updates and written reports, those involved in the project got to actually witness the impressive scale of the project.
Once operational, the Lake County port is projected to create an estimated 1,700 new permanent jobs while also preserving nearly 2,300 existing jobs in the region.
Cates Landing is also projected to generate in excess of $350 million a year in business revenues.
Staff Reporter Kevin Bowden may be contacted by email at kmbowden@ucmessenger.com.
Published in The Messenger 7.12.12 |
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