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78-589: The principal facilities of the Port of Virginia are four marine terminals , all on the harbor of Hampton Roads : one intermodal container transfer facility ( dry port ): and one inland marine terminal, which it operates via a lease: A site on the harbor at nearby Craney Island has been identified for future expansion. Virginia International Terminals, Inc. (VIT), the Virginia Port Authority's non-stock , non-profit affiliate , has operated

156-461: A centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. A smart port uses technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to be more efficient at handling goods. Smart ports usually deploy cloud-based software as part of the process of greater automation to help generate the operating flow that helps the port work smoothly. At present, most of

234-461: A federal cost-sharing initiative that provided for the dredging of all major U.S. river channels and waterways . The Hampton Roads harbor became the first to begin dredging under the new legislation, with the aim of deepening the outbound navigational channel from 45 to 50 feet (15 m). The project was completed in 1988 with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . In 1989, the VPA opened

312-904: A fishing port to be uneconomical. A marina is a port for recreational boating. A warm-water port (also known as an ice-free port) is one where the water does not freeze in winter. This is mainly used in the context of countries with mostly cold winters where parts of the coastline freezes over every winter. Because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest . Such settlements as Narvik in Norway , Dalian in China , Murmansk , Novorossiysk , Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vostochny Port in Russia , Odesa in Ukraine , Kushiro in Japan and Valdez at

390-550: A forty-five-foot-deep main channel. The terminal is serviced by 42,720 feet (13,020 m) of rail track and four container cranes . Two berths handle cruise vessels and breakbulk cargo. The facility is also capable of handling containerized and roll-on/roll-off cargo. NNMT provides storage space for 790 containers and 1,210 chassis . NNMT also offers 394,000 square feet (36,600 m) of covered storage space; 256,000 square feet (23,800 m) of dry storage space; and 43 acres (170,000 m) of open yard storage space. NNMT

468-654: A fund that's generated by fuel taxes, vehicle sales and use taxes, and some sales taxes. Such revenue is invested in maintaining and improving the facilities and in marketing the port to potential clients. The Virginia Port Authority had its roots in the Virginia State Ports Authority, an agency of the Commonwealth created in 1952 that was responsible for operating the port terminals in the Hampton Roads harbor . Studies commissioned by

546-711: A port or nearby. Modern ports will have specialised cargo -handling equipment, such as gantry cranes , reach stackers and forklift trucks . Ports usually have specialised functions: some tend to cater mainly for passenger ferries and cruise ships ; some specialise in container traffic or general cargo; and some ports play an important military role for their nation's navy. Some third world countries and small islands such as Ascension and St Helena still have limited port facilities, so that ships must anchor off while their cargo and passengers are taken ashore by barge or launch (respectively). In modern times, ports survive or decline, depending on current economic trends. In

624-424: A ship on its sailing itinerary. At these ports, cargo ships may take on supplies or fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo while cruise liners have passengers get on or off ship. A fishing port is a port or harbor for landing and distributing fish. It may be a recreational facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the only port that depends on an ocean product, and depletion of fish may cause

702-516: A ship to sail from the ocean inland to the port to load or unload its cargo. An example of this is the St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like Toronto , Duluth-Superior , and Chicago . The term inland port is also used for dry ports . A seaport is a port located on the shore of a sea or ocean. It

780-523: A single Dutch ship per year, whereas Osaka was the largest domestic port and the main trade hub for rice. Post-classical Swahili kingdoms are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes with the Islamic world and Asia. They were described by Greek historians as "metropolises". Famous African trade ports such as Mombasa , Zanzibar , Mogadishu and Kilwa were known to Chinese sailors such as Zheng He and medieval Islamic historians such as

858-502: A small semi-automated container port (with links to the Port of Felixstowe , the UK's largest container port) thrived for some years, but has been hit hard by competition from the emergent London Gateway port and logistics hub. In mainland Europe, it is normal for ports to be publicly owned, so that, for instance, the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam are owned partly by the state and partly by

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936-402: A terminal on the property of PMT; the new facility used about one-third of the available space. Sea-Land built a 600-foot (180 m) marginal wharf, a paved backup storage area, an office building, a warehouse with 26 loading bays, and a maintenance garage. Sea-Land also purchased a container crane. Sea-Land developed the terminal under a 30-year lease that stipulated that at the end of the lease

1014-665: A third of the world's shipping containers , half of the world's annual supply of crude oil , and is the world's busiest transshipment port . Europe's busiest container port and biggest port by cargo tonnage by far is the Port of Rotterdam , in the Netherlands. It is followed by the Belgian Port of Antwerp or the German Port of Hamburg , depending on which metric is used. In turn, the Spanish Port of Valencia

1092-566: A three-door cross dock facility for transferring cargo, a maintenance building, a chassis pool, reefer gensets , and shore power. As a U.S. Customs -designated port of entry, VIP supplies a full range of customs functions. USDA and SGS inspections are also available as needed. The Port of Richmond , also known as the Richmond Deepwater Terminal and the Richmond Marine Terminal , is located on

1170-484: Is accessible via Interstate 64, Interstate 664, and U.S. Route 17. Breakbulk rail service is provided by CSX Corporation . Containerized cargo is drayed to and from NIT when Norfolk Southern rail service is necessary. Prior to the beginning of port unification in 1971, the Peninsula Ports Authority of Virginia (PPAV) owned the terminal and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (now CSX) operated it. In

1248-609: Is accessible via Interstates 64, Interstate 564, and Terminal Boulevard, and via rail serviced by Norfolk Southern Railway , CSX Corporation , and the Norfolk Division of the Buckingham Branch Railroad . NIT was originally a surplus Army base that the City of Norfolk purchased in 1965. The city outfitted the base with a container crane and put a one-berth container facility in service in addition to

1326-477: Is accessible via U.S. Route 58, which is connected to Interstates 95, 64, and 664; and via rail serviced by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation . Most of PMT was built upon reclaimed land containing dredged material from the construction of the Midtown Tunnel . The terminal began, in part, as a port owned by a railroad that served Pinner's Point. The Virginia State Ports Authority purchased

1404-510: Is exempt from state and federal taxes, but as a result receives no money from the state's General Fund. Port operations are paid for using revenue generated by port activities, predominantly trade . The Port Authority does, however, receive state transportation money for capital projects, for such things as new wharfs and cranes. The agency receives 4.2 percent of the Commonwealth Transportation Trust Fund,

1482-418: Is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding . Internationally, global ports are beginning to identify ways to improve coastal management practices and integrate climate change adaptation practices into their construction. Wherever ancient civilisations engaged in maritime trade, they tended to develop sea ports. One of the world's oldest known artificial harbors is at Wadi al-Jarf on

1560-404: Is further categorized as commercial and non-commercial: Cargo ports are quite different from cruise ports, because each handles very different cargo, which has to be loaded and unloaded by a variety of mechanical means. Bulk cargo ports may handle one particular type of cargo or numerous cargoes, such as grains, liquid fuels, liquid chemicals, wood, automobiles, etc. Such ports are known as

1638-688: Is often lower because of both direct and indirect pollution from the shipping, and other challenges caused by the port's community, such as trash washing into the ocean. Sewage from ships, and leaks of oil and chemicals from shipping vessels can contaminate local water, and cause other effects like nutrient pollution in the water. Ports and their infrastructure are very vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise, because many of them are in low-lying areas designed for status quo water levels. Variable weather, coastal erosion, and sea level rise all put pressure on existing infrastructure, resulting in subsidence , coastal flooding and other direct pressures on

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1716-671: Is the busiest port in the Mediterranean basin, while the Portuguese Port of Sines is the busiest atlantic port. The Port of Trieste , Italy , is the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline . The largest ports include the Port of South Louisiana , a vast sprawling port centered in the New Orleans area, Houston , Port of New York/New Jersey , Los Angeles in

1794-512: Is the largest port in the world in both cargo tonnage and activity. It regained its position as the world's busiest port by cargo tonnage and the world's busiest container port in 2009 and 2010, respectively. It is followed by the ports of Singapore , Hong Kong and Kaohsiung , Taiwan , all of which are in East and Southeast Asia . The port of Singapore is the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also transships

1872-401: Is the port where cruise ship passengers board (or embark ) to start their cruise and disembark the cruise ship at the end of their cruise. It is also where the cruise ship's supplies are loaded for the cruise, which includes everything from fresh water and fuel to fruits, vegetables, champagne, and any other supplies needed for the cruise. "Cruise home ports" are very busy places during the day

1950-618: Is the second smallest of the four facilities, with a land area of 161 acres (0.65 km). The terminal is serviced by 17,820 feet (5,430 m) of rail track that runs adjacent to Norfolk Southern Railway 's main rail line. VIP is accessible via Interstates 66 and 81. The $ 10 million intermodal facility opened in 1989, extending The Port of Virginia's operations 220 miles (350 km) inland. VIP provides access to markets in Washington, D.C. , Maryland , Delaware , West Virginia , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York . The terminal offers

2028-464: Is when a native species with no natural predator is all of a sudden prey of an invasive specie. Indirect interaction can be diseases or other health conditions brought by invasive species. Ports are also a source of increased air pollution as a result of ships and land transportation at the port. Transportation corridors around ports have higher exhaust emissions and this can have related health effects on local communities. Water quality around ports

2106-483: The Allegheny Mountains . Using a combination of governmental funds from federal and state funding from Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio and with substantial investment of their own corporate resources, both railroads have been engaged in addressing both issues, NS has been working on its Heartland Corridor project by raising vertical clearances in 28 tunnels on an extant Norfolk Southern rail line between

2184-709: The Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan . As of 2020, the busiest passenger port in Europe is the Port of Helsinki in Finland . Nevertheless, countless smaller ports do exist that may only serve their local tourism or fishing industries. Ports can have a wide environmental impact on local ecologies and waterways, most importantly water quality, which can be caused by dredging, spills and other pollution . Ports are heavily affected by changing environmental factors caused by climate change as most port infrastructure

2262-656: The Commonwealth Railway to the center median of Virginia State Route 164 and Interstate 664 . The line extends from VPA facilities in Portsmouth to Suffolk , a location which, due largely to geography of the region, has long been a rail and highway hub in the western portion of South Hampton Roads . The move eliminated the prior routing of intermodal traffic along the Commonwealth Railway through neighborhoods in Portsmouth as well as reduced

2340-523: The James River in Richmond , Virginia , United States, 100 miles (160 km) inland from Cape Henry and approximately 78 miles (126 km) northwest of Newport News, Virginia . It is located at 77° 25' west latitude and 37° 27' north longitude, lies adjacent to Interstate 95 , and is 4 miles (6 km) south of downtown Richmond . Richmond is the western terminus for commercial navigation on

2418-640: The London Gateway . Ideally, a port will grant easy navigation to ships, and will give shelter from wind and waves. Ports are often on estuaries, where the water may be shallow and may need regular dredging . Deep water ports such as Milford Haven are less common, but can handle larger ships with a greater draft, such as super tankers , Post-Panamax vessels and large container ships . Other businesses such as regional distribution centres , warehouses and freight-forwarders, canneries and other processing facilities find it advantageous to be located within

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2496-544: The Nissan Import Auto Operations facility, previously located at NIT, was relocated to a newly developed 25-acre (100,000 m) space at NNMT. In 2010, the VPA entered into a 20-year lease agreement with Netherlands-based APM Terminals , a global port, terminal and Inland Services operator which is an independent business unit of Danish A.P. Moller-Maersk Group that effectively gives the agency control over all operations at VIG. Highly automated,

2574-571: The Red Sea . Along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found. Other ancient ports include Guangzhou during Qin dynasty China and Canopus , the principal Egyptian port for Greek trade before the foundation of Alexandria . In ancient Greece, Athens' port of Piraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet which played a crucial role in the Battle of Salamis against

2652-546: The Virginia General Assembly during the 1970s and the early 1980s suggested that the port terminals should be consolidated under a single port authority that would manage the activities of the terminals while remaining under the authority of the General Assembly. Legislation changed the name of the Virginia State Ports Authority to the Virginia Port Authority to reflect the goal of integrating

2730-468: The "bulk" or "break bulk ports". Ports that handle containerized cargo are known as container ports . Most cargo ports handle all sorts of cargo, but some ports are very specific as to what cargo they handle. Additionally, individual cargo ports may be divided into different operating terminals which handle the different types of cargoes, and may be operated by different companies, also known as terminal operators, or stevedores . A cruise home port

2808-466: The $ 450 million terminal in Portsmouth located on a 291-acre (1.18 km) site was the largest investment in a company-owned container terminal in the nation when opened by APM Terminals in 2007. The addition of APM Terminals Virginia terminal meant that all the marine cargo container terminals in the Hampton Roads harbor became united under the VPA's management as of July, 2010. In August 2014,

2886-814: The Berber Islamic voyager Abu Abdullah ibn Battuta . Many of these ancient sites no longer exist or function as modern ports. Even in more recent times, ports sometimes fall out of use. Rye, East Sussex , was an important English port in the Middle Ages, but the coastline changed and it is now 2 miles (3.2 km) from the sea, while the ports of Ravenspurn and Dunwich have been lost to coastal erosion . Whereas early ports tended to be just simple harbours, modern ports tend to be multimodal distribution hubs , with transport links using sea, river, canal, road, rail and air routes. Successful ports are located to optimize access to an active hinterland , such as

2964-402: The City of Norfolk in 1972. In order to manage the consolidated marine terminal operations, Virginia International Terminals, Inc. was created in 1982. VIT not only systematized operations at the VPA's facilities, but also moved cargo more efficiently and strengthened the port's marketing program. Two pieces of legislation in the 1980s aided the development of The Port of Virginia. The first,

3042-824: The James River, due to the Fall Line . VPA appears to be making preparations to take advantage of the future traffic potential of marine cargo container traffic in an ever-increasingly global market. The capacity expansion at Norfolk International Terminal, the 20-year lease of the APTM Virginia terminal facilities at Portsmouth and the planning and initial stages of the Craney Island terminal project all are complementary to what others are doing and how various investments are being made in transportation infrastructure improvements. Other entities doing so include

3120-415: The Netherlands. Ports with international traffic have customs facilities. The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for different types of facilities handling ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. An inland port is a port on a navigable lake, river ( fluvial port), or canal with access to a sea or ocean, which therefore allows

3198-660: The Persians in 480 BCE. In ancient India from 3700 BCE, Lothal was a prominent city of the Indus valley civilisation, located in the Bhal region of the modern state of Gujarāt . Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome with Portus established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. In Japan, during the Edo period , the island of Dejima was the only port open for trade with Europe and received only

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3276-621: The Port of Virginia since its creation by the state in 1981 and is headquartered in downtown Norfolk, Virginia . The agency also employs regional managers throughout the United States and in Belgium , Brazil , Japan , Hong Kong , India , and South Korea . As an agency of the Commonwealth, the Virginia Port Authority reports to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation. The Governor of Virginia appoints 11 citizens to form

3354-733: The Transportation Trust Fund, became the source for the Commonwealth Port Fund. The Commonwealth Port Fund was created by the General Assembly from a portion of the revenue generated by transportation taxes and fees , and was transferred to the Board of Commissioners of the VPA to satisfy port capital needs within Virginia. The second piece of legislation was the Water Resources Act of 1986,

3432-552: The U.S. federal government, other Virginia agencies, other states and their respective local agencies (i.e. Toledo ), corporate entities (notably the two Class 1 railroads and several short line railroads operating in the Hampton Roads region. VPA is even apparently ready to capitalize on developments initiated in other countries, with a particular emphasis on Panama's canal widening project. East coast ports from Wilmington, North Carolina north to New York City , notably including facilities at Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News on

3510-1149: The U.S., Manzanillo in Mexico and Vancouver in Canada. Panama also has the Panama Canal that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and is a key conduit for international trade. The largest port in Oceania is the Port of Melbourne . According to ECLAC 's "Maritime and Logistics Profile of Latin America and the Caribbean", the largest ports in South America are the Port of Santos in Brazil, Cartagena in Colombia, Callao in Peru, Guayaquil in Ecuador, and

3588-488: The UK, both the ports of Liverpool and Southampton were once significant in the transatlantic passenger liner business. Once airliner traffic decimated that trade, both ports diversified to container cargo and cruise ships. Up until the 1950s the Port of London was a major international port on the River Thames , but changes in shipping and the use of containers and larger ships have led to its decline. Thamesport ,

3666-827: The VPA continued to expand the facilities, replace old cranes, and add new ones, until it reached its present capacity. On July 16, 2008, the three newest, and largest, cranes were delivered to the terminal. Portsmouth Marine Terminal is the second largest of the four facilities, with a land area of 219 acres (0.89 km). The terminal has a forty-five-foot-deep main channel. The terminal is serviced by 20,100 feet (6,100 m) of rail track, six container cranes , and one gantry crane . A marginal wharf measuring 3,540 feet (1,080 m) long provides three berths for vessels carrying containerized , breakbulk , and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. PMT provides 33,786 TEUs of container storage space; 94,471 square feet (8,776.6 m) of dry storage space; and space for 260 reefer receptacles. PMT

3744-619: The Virginia Inland Port, a $ 10 million intermodal facility in Front Royal, Virginia. The combination truck-and-rail terminal sits near the intersection of U.S. Interstate 81 and U.S. Interstate 66 and extends the VPA's activities to Maryland , Delaware , West Virginia , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York . Norfolk International Terminals is the largest of the four facilities, with a land area of 648 acres (2.62 km). The terminal has fifty-foot-deep entrance channels at

3822-776: The Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners, and the state treasurer is an ex officio member of the Board. Commissioners serve staggered five year terms at the pleasure of the Governor, and no commissioner may serve more than two consecutive terms. Law dictates that there must be one, but no more than one, commissioner from Norfolk or Virginia Beach ; one, but no more than one, commissioner from Portsmouth or Chesapeake ; and one, but no more than one, commissioner from Hampton or Newport News . Traditionally, an active or retired senior executive from Norfolk Southern Railway and an individual with ties to

3900-496: The border where Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana converge. The $ 6.1 million cost will be funded with federal economic stimulus funds and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, plus money from NS. To serve more volume with greater safety, Virginia recently entered the final completion stages of relocating the eastern portion of a short line railroad operated through Portsmouth by

3978-410: The breakbulk capacity already available. A second container berth and two more container cranes were added in the early 1970s. The Virginia Port Authority used a $ 12 million appropriation from the General Assembly to acquire NIT on July 1, 1972. Slightly more than half the money went to pay obligations to the city and terminal; the remainder was dedicated to purchasing a fourth container crane, extending

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4056-533: The cities themselves. Even though modern ships tend to have bow-thrusters and stern-thrusters, many port authorities still require vessels to use pilots and tugboats for manoeuvering large ships in tight quarters. For instance, ships approaching the Belgian port of Antwerp , an inland port on the River Scheldt , are obliged to use Dutch pilots when navigating on that part of the estuary that belongs to

4134-409: The coal industry have also served as members of the Board. The Board elects a chairman and vice chairman from within its membership. The Board of Commissioners appoints the executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, who is responsible for overseeing the daily execution of the agency's policies, and serving as an ex officio member of VIT's Board of Directors. The Virginia Port Authority

4212-399: The container berth, and improving support structures. During the 1980s, NIT attracted the business of Nissan Motor Company and Evergreen . To meet increasing demand, the VPA dredged deeper channels, added a fourth berth, built a 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m) warehouse, purchased three high-speed gantry cranes, and paved another container storage area. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s,

4290-413: The cruise ship is in port, because off-going passengers debark their baggage and on-coming passengers board the ship in addition to all the supplies being loaded. Cruise home ports tend to have large passenger terminals to handle the large number of passengers passing through the port. The busiest cruise home port in the world is the Port of Miami , Florida . A port of call is an intermediate stop for

4368-596: The different ports. Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg , Manchester and Duluth ; these access the sea via rivers or canals . Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories. Ports are extremely important to

4446-437: The facility, but in 1965 leased a portion of it to the City of Portsmouth. Funds from the General Assembly and the city paid for a temporary pier . By 1971, PMT had developed into a conventional two-berth general cargo marine terminal. In that year, the VPA bought Portsmouth's interest in the facility for approximately $ 7,418,000. In 1975, an agreement between the VPA and Portsmouth allowed Sea-Land Service, Inc. to construct

4524-400: The first port to enter the unification program; the City of Portsmouth conveyed the port to the VPA in 1971. Later that same year, Newport News Marine Terminal (NNMT) was transferred to the VPA with the consent of its owner Peninsula Ports Authority (PPAV), its operator Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , and the cities of Hampton and Newport News. The VPA acquired Norfolk International Terminals from

4602-453: The global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port. For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports , such as Singapore and

4680-624: The harbor of Hampton Roads, currently receive extensive intermodal shipping container traffic. Much of the volume is from China and other points in Asia and is bound for the eastern 1/3 of the United States. Most containers are then transferred to railroads, and then transported generally as close as possible to final destinations, where they are then moved onto trucks for the final portion of their journeys. As this volume has increased in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that there

4758-407: The hazards of grade crossings with streets and highways. In 2014, the Panama Canal expansion project is due to be completed. A 15-year-long project, it will double the canal's capacity and allow it to carry the bigger container vessels and bulk ships which have become favored by the shipping lines since the canal first opened in 1914. Such larger craft currently cannot use the port. Instead, much of

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4836-406: The intermodal yard expansions by both railroads. The Virginia Port Authority maintains its own police force of fully state certified and sworn law enforcement officers of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Police officers are responsible for physical security and law enforcement at the marine terminals and the intermodal facility. The law enforcement officers also have concurrent jurisdiction around

4914-469: The land and facility would revert to the VPA. During the early 1990s PMT received another high-speed container crane and a dock extension that joined the existing 600-foot (180 m) marginal wharf at the Sea-Land facility with the marginal wharf at the VPA's facility. Newport News Marine Terminal is the smallest of the four facilities, with a land area of 140.64 acres (0.5691 km). The terminal has

4992-474: The late 1960s, Pier B entered service and construction of Pier C began. When, in 1971, the PPAV and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway conveyed their rights to NNMT to the VPA, Pier C had not yet been completed. One of the requirements of the contract stipulated that the VPA had to obtain state funding to finish the project. In 1972, the General Assembly appropriated the necessary funds. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway remained

5070-496: The north and south ends. The terminal is serviced by 89,300 feet (27,200 m) of rail track and 11 Suez-class container cranes . A marginal wharf measuring 5,730 feet (1,750 m) long provides five berths for vessels carrying containerized , breakbulk , and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. NIT provides 34,219 TEUs of container storage space; 2,340,000 square feet (217,000 m) total of covered pier , dry, and cold storage space; and space for 702 stacked truck chassis . NIT

5148-622: The only ones on the U.S. East Coast which can already handle the greater draft (channel depth) of 50–55 feet and height clearance (approximately 50 feet) which are needed for the larger ships that would begin coming through the widened canal. In the Spring of 2010, Norfolk Southern had almost completed the Heartland Corridor project and work on CSX's National Gateway was well underway. Officials in Ohio had already celebrated groundbreaking for

5226-560: The operator of NNMT until 1982, when the VPA Board of Commissioners authorized VIT to take over the operations. In 1983, the VPA purchased 22 acres (89,000 m) of land adjacent to NNMT from CSX, then leased the land back to the railway company for two years while it built a repair along its tracks. In the 1990s, NNMT received a $ 10 million entrance complex, an interchange, scales, an administration building, 27 acres (110,000 m) of paved cargo space, and an extension to Pier C. In 1994,

5304-414: The points east of there. Much of such rail traffic now changes at "gateway" railhead cities such as Chicago and St. Louis , from western class 1 railroads such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) to other railroads. By using the canal and east coast ports, potentially a lot of shipping expense for the rail portion to destinations can be saved. However, keys to shipping via

5382-468: The port of Hampton Roads Chicago. CSX has a similar goal with National Gateway Project which is also upgrading bridges and tunnels. Both railroads are also expanding intermodal terminal capacities in Ohio. In June, 2010, NS announced that it had reached an agreement with Ohio to extend a leg of the Heartland Corridor southwesterly from Columbus to Cincinnati , which is located on the Ohio River near

5460-401: The port. There are several initiatives to decrease negative environmental impacts of ports. The World Port Sustainability Program points to all of the Sustainable Development Goals as potential ways of addressing port sustainability. These include SIMPYC , the World Ports Climate Initiative , the African Green Port Initiative , EcoPorts and Green Marine . The port of Shanghai

5538-437: The ports. Virginia Senate Bill 548 mandated that the Virginia Port Authority complete the unification as swiftly as possible. In addition, the General Assembly revised the VPA's enabling legislation to allow the agency to subordinate local port cities, towns, and other entities; to acquire federal, state, and local property; and to provide for a tariff . The VPA purchased the terminals piecemeal. Portsmouth Marine Terminal became

5616-566: The sale of APM Terminals Virginia, in Portsmouth, was finalized. The 576-acre, highly automated container terminal was purchased by Alinda Capital Partners, a U.S. infrastructure investment firm, and Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd., a pension fund based in the United Kingdom. Alinda and the VPA signed a 49-year lease in 2016, under which the VPA operates the terminal. The Virginia Inland Port, located in Front Royal, Virginia ,

5694-540: The shipping container traffic currently uses West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, California . The containers then travel overland via either railroad or by trucking. By coming through the widened Panama Canal to the Gulf of Mexico and sailing on to East Coast ports, these vessels will be able to reduce shipping time and expense to reach major U.S. markets along the Mississippi River basin and

5772-539: The terminus of the Alaska Pipeline owe their very existence to being ice-free ports. The Baltic Sea and similar areas have ports available year-round beginning in the 20th century thanks to icebreakers , but earlier access problems prompted Russia to expand its territory to the Black Sea . A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as

5850-414: The water column, and can stir up pollutants captured in the sediments. Invasive species are often spread by the bilge water and species attached to the hulls of ships. It is estimated that there are over 7000 invasive species transported in bilge water around the world on a daily basis Invasive species can have direct or indirect interactions with native sea life. Direct interaction such as predation,

5928-568: The western versus eastern ports are facilities at the ports, better rail links inland, shipping times, and costs. VPA's recent lease of the massive APTM intermodal terminal at Portsmouth and its capacity expansion at the Norfolk International Terminal both help Virginia to be positioned favorably, as do the move of the local railroad line, and the planning for even more capacity at Craney Island . Currently, according to Trains magazine, Hampton Roads and Baltimore are

6006-766: The world's ports have somewhat embedded technology, if not for full leadership. However, thanks to global government initiatives and exponential growth in maritime trade, the number of intelligent ports has gradually increased. A report by business intelligence provider Visiongain assessed that Smart Ports Market spending would reach $ 1.5 bn in 2019. Ports and their operation are often a cause of environmental issues, such as sediment contamination and spills from ships and are susceptible to larger environmental issues, such as human caused climate change and its effects. Every year 100 million cubic metres of marine sediment are dredged to improve waterways around ports. Dredging, in its practice, disturbs local ecosystems, brings sediments into

6084-472: Was a need for improved intermodal transfer facilities, both at the ports, and near the final destinations. Additionally, the two major Class 1 railroads serving this growing traffic, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) and CSX Transportation (CSX), have each been forced utilize circuitous routing to avoid conflicts with tunnel and bridge clearances when crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains and

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