March 28, 2023 — In early March, the Port of Long Beach and International Transportation Service, LLC, celebrated completion of a $55 million improvement project that allows ITS to welcome larger container ships and enhance efficiency at the ITS terminal. The Pier G Wharf Improvements Project is the latest in a series of major upgrades to the 260-acre container terminal operated by ITS, a Port tenant for more than 50 years.
“With the opening of the Berth G236 extension at ITS, we are able to offer ocean carriers new berthing capability for ships carrying up to 16,000 TEUs,” said ITS CEO Kim Holtermand. “In the next five months, we will take delivery of five new ship-to-shore cranes and five rubber-tired gantry cranes, cementing our commitment to the future of this gateway, the success of this new infrastructure, and the continuous pursuit of operational improvements for our customers.”
The wharf extension is among the Port’s numerous capital improvement projects built to meet the current and future needs of tenants and customers moving cargo through Long Beach, as well as those who live and work in the region. “With each new infrastructure project, we improve the efficiency, safety and security of our operations, increase the velocity of cargo moving through our Port, and incorporate the latest technology and practices to reduce, and wherever possible, eliminate emissions,” said Port Executive Director Mario Cordero. “This is why Long Beach is the Port of Choice.”
THE PROJECT
Along the water, the Port added 246 feet of new wharf to extend Berth G236, built new rock dikes, and improved mooring infrastructure at Berths G232 and G236. The work involved demolishing a section of the previous wharf and concrete piles, extensive dredging and driving about 185 100-foot-long new concrete piles. Land improvements included adding 2 acres of backlands to increase the terminal’s storage capacity; strengthening dockside infrastructure to support new, larger ship-to-shore cranes with a longer reach; equipping the wharf for ships at berth to run on shore power; installing drainage systems, lighting, fencing and signage; and striping the new area.
The improvements give ITS the capability to welcome the size of ships that are the workhorses of the trans-Pacific trade route.
Two leading California construction companies formed the joint venture that built the project. Griffith Company, headquartered in Brea, and The Dutra Group, headquartered in San Rafael, combined their expertise as Griffith/Dutra to win the competitive bid as the prime contractor in 2021. Much of the work centered on the new wharf, which is Dutra’s area of expertise. Griffith, which specializes in landside infrastructure, built the new yard, track improvements and utilities. Raw materials used to get the job done included 175,000 cubic tons of quarry run rock, 7,500 cubic yards of soil, 23,000 tons of aggregate, 12,000 tons of armor stone, 5,600 tons of crushed miscellaneous base and 4,000 tons of new asphalt.
Building on Dutra’s track record of hundreds of thousands of labor hours without a single injury, there were zero lost-time accidents on the Pier G project, said Dutra Senior Project Manager P.J. Glavin, the onsite lead for the Griffith/Dutra team. “Safety and quality are our core values,” Glavin said. “They go hand in hand with safe and fluid operations after our work is done.”
The project was completed on time and within the Port’s budget, said Dan Leeper, Senior Project Manager for Griffith. “We worked very collaboratively with the Port to ensure we accommodated key schedule milestones, including delivery of the new cranes. With this collaborative mindset and effective communications with all stakeholders, we successfully built this project while minimizing impacts to ITS operations.”
THE BIG PICTURE
Completion of the project builds on other recent improvements at Pier G. This year, ITS increased its capacity for storing refrigerated containers, allowing it to plug in up to 1,200 temperature-controlled units. In the process, ITS reconfigured its overall reefer storage, freeing up more yard space for stacking regular containers.
ITS customers are also benefiting from the Port’s double-track project, which added a second rail line to increase the efficiency of on-dock rail operations in the Port’s south basin. Completed in 2022, the new 8,000-foot-long track allows ITS and three other terminals to simultaneously handle arriving and departing trains. It also reduces emissions by shifting more cargo to rail.
Along the way, ITS has been a leader in reducing air pollution associated with port-related operations. Six months before the San Pedro Bay ports adopted their original Clean Air Action Plan in 2006, ITS was the first container terminal operator to sign a full 20-year green lease with the Port of Long Beach. The groundbreaking environmental covenants with ITS, owned at the time by Japan-based “K” Line, included leading the way for ships calling at the Port of Long Beach to run on electricity at berth, using renewable fuels to power container yard equipment, and accelerating turnover of cargo handling equipment to the cleanest available technologies.
ITS’ commitment to greening its operations continues today. As one of three terminal operators partnering with the Port on its large-scale Zero-Emissions Terminal Equipment Transition Project, ITS demonstrated zero-emissions yard tractors to test their viability under real-world operating conditions. Additionally, ITS uses renewable fuels in all cargo operations and has invested in the latest hybrid drive technology to power its rubber-tired gantry cranes. ITS’ parent company is now Macquarie Asset Management. “The San Pedro gateway has seen dramatic changes in the container market, in customer behavior, modal shift and even the regulatory environment over the last few years,” Holtermand said. “Throughout, ITS has continued to invest in equipment, its systems and its people to ensure it offers agile, solution-focused and greener services to customers across the supply chain.”
