$46bn US investment in marine projects

More than US$46bn is to be invested over the next five years by seaport agencies and private-sector partners in wide-ranging capital improvements to marine operations and port facilities in the United States, according to a survey carried out by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

However, the survey also revealed that although major investment is planned for port facilities, the same is not so for the essential intermodal links that includes roads, bridges, tunnels and navigation channels.

In an attempt to overcome these shortfalls, the AAPA has continued to call for a national freight infrastructure strategy to direct funding towards what it calls ‘economically strategic freight transportation infrastructure of national and regional significance’.