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ALABAMA STATE PORT
AUTHORITY APPROVES PRELIMINARY CONTRACTS ON NEW TERMINAL
Alabama
State Port Authority Board has voted to approve $1.8 million in
engineering and consulting contracts as preparatory work begins on its
$240 million Choctaw Point Container/Intermodal Distribution Terminal.
The Terminal is to be located two miles south of the main docks on a
45-foot ship channel.
James
K. Lyons, director and CEO of the Authority, said, “These two contracts
are important steps in the development of the Choctaw Point Terminal
project. The two companies are well qualified and will help us in
meeting our goal of having the terminal operational by 2005.”
The
Board accepted the recommendation of the United States Corps of
Engineers in its selection of Volkert & Associates of Mobile to prepare
the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Authority’s proposed
Choctaw Point Terminal. This contract is “not to exceed $943,260.50”.
The
second contract is to Moffatt & Nichol Engineers of Long Beach, CA., for
$850,000, as part of that company’s agreement to be program manager of
the entire project. Moffatt & Nichol has just completed a strategic
study of the project that will be used as a guideline for the
development.
In the
environmental impact study, the Port Authority received 13 proposals in
response to its request, evaluated these and interviewed nine firms.
Three firms were selected for submission to the Corps, which picked
Volkert. A team of seven sub-contractors will perform work and report to
Volkert, which is responsible for the permit application. The time frame
for completion is about one year.
The
scope of services document states that Volkert will be in charge of
coordinating public involvement and public outreach program; gathering
existing data on environmental resources covering such subjects as
wetlands, air, ground and water quality; design alternatives;
environmental assessment and consequences; construction methodology, and
environmental mitigation and remediation. The firm is responsible for
preparing the document and for program and project management activities
for the duration of the contract.
Moffatt
& Nichol was named program manager of the entire project in June 2001.
Moffatt & Nichol’s work under this recent authorization will include
primary design, continued marketing assistance, assistance in selection
of a private sector partner, participation in the selection of final
design consultants, and assistance in the preparation of the
environmental impact statement.
“We’re
excited about the Choctaw Point project and our continuing progress,”
said Lyons. “The fact that the site already has in place adjacent water,
rail and road infrastructure without further investment is certainly to
our advantage. Our strategic study shows that this location is ideally
marked for an early success. We look forward to continuing to work with
Volkert and Moffatt & Nichol as we pursue this goal.” |
