South Carolina Port Expansion Program

The goal of this comprehensive 10-year program is to make Charleston the leading shipping port in the Southeast United States.

Location

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Client

South Carolina Ports Authority

Project Status

Completed in 2016

Preparing to Become No. 1

In January 2014, the 90-acre (36-hectare) South Carolina Inland Port in Greer, 210 miles (335 kilometers) inland from Charleston, was the first key project completed as part of the program.

WSP is providing program management, planning, design, and construction management services for the South Carolina Ports Authority’s USD $1.3 billion program to expand its shipping network.

capacity

+50% +50%

Containers per Year

1.4 million 1.4 million

terminals

5 5

Scaling Up in a Big Way

The inland port is adjacent to a major rail line that connects to Port Charleston and is close to Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, so it serves a similar function as a water-based port. The inland port is one of more than 30 planned projects in the program, which includes work at five terminals located within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of one another in Charleston, and a terminal in Georgetown, a coastal city 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the northeast. The linchpin of the program is the 300-acre (120 hectare) Naval Base Terminal, an estimated USD $700 million container terminal being developed in stages, for which WSP has served as construction manager since 2007.

When completed in 2016, the Naval Base Terminal will increase Charleston’s container capacity by 50 percent, enabling the Ports Authority to handle the equivalent of 1.4 million shipping containers per year.