AASHTO Journal - New Round of Marine Highway Grants Available

The U.S. Maritime Administration – known as MARAD – recently announced a notice of funding opportunity for $4.8 million fiscal year 2024 grants via its U.S. Marine Highway Program or USMHP. Applications must be submitted through grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. EST on July 12.

[Above photo by MARAD]

The agency said that funding should help improve and expand the movement of goods along U.S. navigable waterways. MARAD also noted that USMHP grants can be used to purchase low-emission U.S.-manufactured equipment, such as container reach stackers and cranes, with the condition that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials are produced in the United States.

Additionally, funds can be used to purchase intermodal equipment that can alleviate supply chain bottlenecks, the agency said.

Since the inception of the USMHP in 2007, MARAD said in a statement that it has awarded more than $103 million to eligible public and private organizations for marine highway services.

In September 2023, MARAD awarded nearly $12 million in grants to eight marine highway projects in Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin

The U.S. Department of Transportation also established two new Marine Highway Routes – M-11 and M-79 – in September 2023 to help speed up the movement of goods, strengthen supply chains, and support local economies in Alaska, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is the sponsor of the M-11 route; a waterway that will add over 6,500 miles to the Marine Highway Program or MHP with the inclusion of the coastal and river ports in southwestern and northern Alaska from the Aleutian Islands to the Canadian border.

Meanwhile, the M-79 Marine Highway Route – co-sponsored by the Port of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization in West Virginia – extends the reach of the Ohio River system by nearly 250 miles, adding the easternmost tributary rivers. MARAD added that, since its inception in 2010, the MHP has established 31 Marine Highway Routes; navigable waterways capable of transporting freight and located in the United States or its territories.