LAN First phase of 20-year port expansion is well under way with unprecedented environmental measures.

A$250-million bond measure approved Nov. 6 by Harris County, Texas, voters gave a boost to ongoing construction on Port of Houston Authority’s 20-year, $1.45-billion Bayport container terminal complex. The megaproject is one of the biggest and greenest port expansions ever in the U.S.

The program is broken into four five-year phases. Construction began in June 2004, two years late due to an extended environmental impact statement process. But first phase work is proceeding more rapidly than expected, says Mark Vincent, Port of Houston project supervisor. The first section opened in January 2007. The next section is scheduled to open in January 2008. Revenue from these sections helps leverage the new bonds.

Work on the 1,043-acre site has accelerated, says Stephen Gilbreath, assistant program manager for Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, Inc., Houston, which directs operations for a portion of first phase construction. It includes space for 80,000 20-ft-equivalent container units, 3,000 parking spaces for three planned 90,000-sq-ft cruise terminals and 416,000 sq ft of warehouse space. Other work includes 2,000 ft of wharf, 60 acres of container yard and a cruise terminal. By year’s end, another 1,300 ft of wharf and 60 acres of yard will be complete.

The port authority responded to “hundreds, if not thousands” of public comments, Vincent says. “There wasn’t an element [of the job] that wasn’t addressed.”

LAN Roller-compacted concrete is among a plethora of methods used on Bayport project to save money, time or the environment.

For instance, the authority’s work permit includes daytime noise restrictions of 75 decibels and 55 decibels at night. Almost all equipment has “broadband back-up alarms,” says Vincent. Instead of the familiar “beep,” which can be heard a mile away, the system sounds a “whoosh” that can not be heard from either the side or front of the vehicle.

To mitigate for 19 acres of wetlands, the port is preserving 459 acres of wetlands, and creating 73 acres of new wetlands, 500 acres of coastal prairie and 200 acres of marsh, says Vincent. Three miles of 20-ft-high berms using recycled earth will buffer the terminal.

To meet strict carbon emissions caps while dredging 1 million cu yd of material, Houston-based Orion Marine Group electrified a dredge. “[It] was the only way to do the job,” of dredging the channel to the new wharves, says Elliot Kennedy, Orion vice president. The firm purchased a dredge at auction, stripped it and rebuilt it . “We thought we’d use this project as the start of what we think is going to be a lot more to come,” says Kennedy.

The port also sought novel paving methods. St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. and subcontractor A.G. Peltz Group LLC, Birmingham, Ala.,are using roller-compacted concrete for a a $52-million, 44-acre yard. “We expect it will eliminate 250,000 linear feet of joints,” says Vincent. The method, used at a few East Coast ports, does not require rebar, he notes.