Gov. Nikki Haley will be in Greer Wednesday morning for a brief walk-through of the South Carolina Inland Port operations with S.C. Ports Authority CEO Jim Newsome.
South Carolina Port Authority
The fast-paced activity at the port can be scene when comparing this photo taken the latter part of August to most current photo at the top of the page.
South Carolina Port Authority
When Gov. Nikki Haley last visited the Inland Port at Greer the land had yet to be graded. This photo was taken only one month after the groundbreaking on March 1.
The price tag for the port has climbed to $50 million. An additional $2.7 million was approved last week by the SCPA board of directors to raise the SCSPA commitment to $42.6 million. Norfolk Southern’s cost is fixed at $7.5 million. The increased costs were attributed to weather delays – more than 45 rain days were recorded this summer – and on-site topography adjustments.
Haley, who was last on the site during the celebrated groundbreaking on March 1, will see an entirely different landscape. The 91-acre site has been transformed into a mass of concrete, some nearly two-feet thick, and railroad tracks, with a road cut from J. Verne Smith Parkway/Hwy. 80 leading into the port. The operations and maintenance shed are also completed.
Norfolk Southern completed its infrastructure, switches, lights and spur into the port in August.
Newsome told the SCPA board of directors last week that on-site testing of IT systems and other preliminary operations were taking place. That included the three rubber-tiered gantry cranes and its operators lifting and placement of containers.
Michael Hoffman, the terminal manager for the port, has been on site overseeing the construction and operations.
Newsome said regular cargo activity is expected to begin this week and construction will be ongoing through the end of the year.
The SCIP offers overnight rail service via Norfolk Southern to and from the Port of Charleston. It is designed to improve the efficiency of container movements between Charleston, the Upstate and neighboring states.
Port officials expect 40,000 containers to be moved in the first year of operation with up to 100,000 expected within five years. About 25,000 container movements from truck to rail are expected to be converted in the first year of operation.
The $13.4 million, 400,000-square-foot BMW Manufacturing warehouse, adjacent to the port on GSP Airport property, is scheduled to begin activity in December or January.