Gateway Terminal (container port)

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warwickland
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Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by warwickland »

The container port development in Jefferson County, along with upgrades to other regional ports is progressing under the STL Regional Freightway plan which is the St. Louis regions port authority port authority(?). The container port has to be in Jefferson County since the bridges are too low north of I-270 to accommodate the large container vessels which will sit a lot higher than normal barges. Currently looking at 2022 to begin operations.

https://www.thefreightway.com/missouri- ... t-service/

The patented vessels APCT is developing would be capable of carrying large quantities of containerized freight at more rapid upriver speeds on an all-water route, connecting Missouri ports in Jefferson City, Kansas City and the St. Louis region to the lower Mississippi River — and ultimately to Asia, Europe and other foreign ports. The Liner vessel will carry up to 2,500 containers or twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUS) at speeds of 13 miles per hour upriver with virtually no wake, making round trips from Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District in Louisiana to Memphis possible in seven days and to the St. Louis region in 10 days. Hybrid vessels are designed to carry 1700 TEUs. A TEU is a 20 foot long by 8 foot tall shipping container.

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marinelog.com

Upgrades to Granite City harbor across from north city have also been completed...sans container cranes.

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bnd.com

https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article233619772.html
Last edited by warwickland on Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:23 am, edited 5 times in total.
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warwickland
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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looks like this will potentially impact kc, but i don't know what shape the port facilities are in around kc.
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warwickland
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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heres some cool photos of the harbor rebuild/upgrade at granite city (funded by the state of illinois). for being a "river city" the port facilities around st.louis are/were in ruins...kc may see similar upgrades soon if not already. it's neat to see river port facilities becoming more like what you would find on a coast with an actual concrete dock instead of just moorings and gravel lots...

https://www.americascentralport.com/pos ... ot-project
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by earthling »

Barge traffic between KC/STL returned a few years ago but it doesn't seem to be as much as it used to be (anecdotally), which is surprising.

Always thought that if KC/STL Amtrak line goes away, might open the door for boat cruise? Restrictions?

edit: Found this on MO River freight traffic...
https://portkc.com/transportation/misso ... er-system/
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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the missouri river is much more cantankerous than the ohio or mississippi, from what i understand of its hydrology. seems like kc decided early on to put its eggs into the railroad basket and nearly abandoned the port. "2015: Port KC signs operating agreement with Kaw Valley Companies to operate on its behalf. In August, the Port of Kansas City welcomes its first barge load of freight since 2007."

edit: it was literally abandoned, which explains why i've never seen at barge at kc.

seems like there is a renewed effort to upgrade port facilities statewide, now.
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warwickland
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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the takeway for kc seems like the stl area will be wanting to push more freight towards kc on the river, especially as I-70 upgrades seem to be going nowhere.
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by earthling »

IIRC the MO River barge traffic ended for a period because of a dam in S Dakota. They controlled the water flow and it wasn't consistent enough to allow barge traffic. Not sure but think I recall something like that.
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by flyingember »

One thing that I didn't realize until recently is there's no pleasure boat docks at KC on the MO River

Omaha has a small marina and the other direction looks to be at Washington MO
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warwickland
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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flyingember wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:29 am One thing that I didn't realize until recently is there's no pleasure boat docks at KC on the MO River

Omaha has a small marina and the other direction looks to be at Washington MO
you mean like a full service marina? there's almost none on the missouri river, the one at washington is just a tiny dock or two. almost all of the large marinas around st. louis are on the mississippi on the st. charles county peninsula. theres a decent sized one at downtown alton which has a pool that ive swam in that floats/sits on the dock (the bottom actually sits down in the river) which is cool/weird. no love for the missouri river, though, for whatever reason. there was a proposal for a huge marina at downtown st. charles a few years ago on the missouri river.
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by rxlexi »

One thing that I didn't realize until recently is there's no pleasure boat docks at KC on the MO River

Omaha has a small marina and the other direction looks to be at Washington MO
Agree, this is a big bummer for KC. There's also Cooper's Landing in Columbia, with a small dock, gas and camping (and Thai food and beer!). Would love to for a small marina to be part of the eventual plans for Berkley Park, or on the Kaw near the planned Rock Island bridge.

I find these massive shipping container barges to be fascinating; a major uptick in river traffic for freight use on these things would be pretty cool, especially if it was actually able to relieve truck traffic on I-70 or other regional freeways.
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

Post by kboish »

The PortKC President seems to be on board with this.

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warwickland
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Re: Gateway Terminal (container port)

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rxlexi wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:17 pm
One thing that I didn't realize until recently is there's no pleasure boat docks at KC on the MO River

Omaha has a small marina and the other direction looks to be at Washington MO
Agree, this is a big bummer for KC. There's also Cooper's Landing in Columbia, with a small dock, gas and camping (and Thai food and beer!).
that place looks rad. hanging out by these big rivers (not just the clear ozark ones) is an under-rated midwestern thing.
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