L.A. port approves major terminal construction contract

Los Angeles port officials approved a $102 million construction contract Thursday that will held a container terminal expansion get under way by the end of the year.

The 10-year-old TraPac development project seeks to modernize and expand the 176-acre container terminal to 243 acres. The expansion, estimated to cost $170 million, would also provide the terminal with on-dock rail, expanded berthing capabilities, and improved gate traffic flow by the realignment of a connecting street.

Under terms of the contract approved Thursday, San Pedro-based Manson Construction Co. will deepen the TraPac waterfront, construct a new 3,700-foot wharf, and install a ship-to-shore. Construction is expected to be complete on the Manson contract by the end of 2010.

Late last year, the port broke a self-imposed moratorium on port development when the Harbor Commission approved required environmental documents for the TraPac project. The approval was the first move toward a major development project at the port in more than five years.

The port, along with officials from the neighboring Long Beach port, have held back major development since a 2002 Los Angeles port project was stopped by a NRDC lawsuit. A settlement over the project with the NRDC eventually cost the Los Angeles port nearly $100 million in environmental retrofits to the project and lost revenues.