The Wabasha Port Authority applied for and received a $2,545,297 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD). Their application competed on a national level for support of port improvement projects. This project will construct a new inland river barge terminal at Upper Mississippi River Mile Marker 760 and develop the necessary access road and utilities to support its operation.
“ This was fantastic news to receive,” said John Friedmeyer, Port Authority President. “This grant award affords Wabasha’s Port Authority the ability to fund the construction of its proposed barge terminal. The goal of this project has been about managing the dredge material generated from keeping the Mississippi River’s navigational channel open, managing the material in a safe way that has little impact on the health and wellbeing of our community. This grant award assures we can meet that goal.”
The project will allow for the Wabasha Port Authority to efficiently partner with the US Army Corps and Kohner Materials to remove dredged sand material off the river and keep the river navigable. The Corps of Engineers, will pay the city a nominal fee, known as a tipping or user fee, to manage the river sand from temporary placement sites scattered along the Mississippi river to permanent locations where it can be used for a variety of purposes, including general construction fill material.
The grant will support the construction of the Wabasha Barge Facility on a vacant, 59-acre parcel on the far west-side of Wabasha, known as the “Carrel’s site”. The Wabasha Port Authority would own the project site and contract out the port operations and transportation of material. The project will include dredging an area to accommodate barge maneuvering and docking, building a barge terminal pad and access road, building a sheet pile dock face, and upstream/downstream steel pipe pile clusters for barge mooring and maneuvering; and constructing footings for conveyors and hoppers for material handling and load-out, and building a scale house/field office building.
City of Wabasha City Administrator was also thrilled to hear the news. “ For a small community of 2500 to secure a nationally competitive grant is huge and this funding will ensure that we can move forward with the project,” said Caroline Gregerson, City Administrator.
