Portsmouth terminal capacity doubles at Port of Virginia

The Port of Virginia marked a milestone this week with the opening of its new container stacks at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) terminal in Portsmouth.

The terminal now has 13 additional container stacks, which has doubled the terminal’s throughput to 1.2 million container lifts a year.

The $320 million project is on track to be complete by June. In addition to the new stacks, the project includes four new ship-to-shore cranes (the largest in the Western Hemisphere), four new gates at the truck gate, a new terminal operating system and a reconfigured on-rail dock yard with almost 20,000 feet of track.

The new cranes should go into service in March, while the new rail yard should be complete in late May.

The port also is concurrently undergoing a $375 million expansion project at Norfolk International Terminals, expanding capacity there by 400,000 containers. That project is expected to be complete by 2020.

When complete, the projects will increase the port’s capacity by 40 percent.

VIG PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Wharf expansion
• Addition of 800 feet
• Four additional Suez-class cranes

Stack/container yard expansion
• 13 additional container stacks
• 26 additional rail-mounted gantry cranes
• 28 stacks at completion

Rail yard expansion
• 19,600 feet of track at completion
• Four cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes

Gate expansion
• Four additional inbound gate lanes
• 17 inbound and 13 outbound gate lanes when complete

Technology
• N4 terminal operating system
• TRS reservation system for motor carriers