Port of L.A. awards $44.6 million contract for Yusen terminal project

The Port of Los Angeles will kick off construction this summer of a two-year project to improve and enhance wharf, rail and yard infrastructure to address traffic congestion, port officials announced yesterday.

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has awarded a $44.6 million contract to Manson Construction Co. to upgrade berths and backlands at Berths 212-224, as part of the project to improve the 185-acre container terminal operated by Yusen Terminals LLC, port officials said in a press release.

The project will enable Yusen to handle vessels and move cargo more efficiently, said Alan McCorkle, vice president of West Coast Operations for NYK Ports, which is composed of Yusen Terminals and Ceres Terminals Inc.

Based on all design, project management and construction costs, the port's total investment is more than $67 million, which includes a proposed on-dock rail project expected to be awarded to a contractor sometime next year. Yusen officials estimated the company could invest more than $60 million in support of the project. About $8 million of the port’s costs will be paid by California Proposition 1B Transportation Bond funds.

The project consists of upgrading wharf and backland infrastructure within the terminal's existing footprint to enhance Yusen's ability to service the biggest ships in the trans-Pacific trade lanes. Plans call for increasing Yusen's on-dock rail capacity by 25 percent by adding a single 2,900-foot line of loading track to accommodate higher container volumes in a short time period when large ships call, port officials said.