The Tennessee Department of Transportation recently secured a public-private partnership or P3 between the state, Cheatham County, and the Ingram Marine Group to develop the Ashland City River Port project.
[Above photo by Tennessee DOT]
The project includes a multimodal, multi-commodity inland river port on a 40-acre site at mile marker 162 on the Cumberland River. Ingram Marine Group will pay to construct the $30 million inland port on the land identified by Cheatham County, while Tennessee DOT will pay for the construction of the $3 million pier with state funds supporting multimodal infrastructure.
“Strategic partnerships like this represent the kind of forward-thinking solutions essential to addressing Tennessee’s evolving infrastructure needs,” said Butch Eley, Tennessee’s deputy governor and Tennessee commissioner, in a statement.
“[We] remain committed to exploring every opportunity to strengthen our regional and national economic competitiveness by advancing infrastructure enhancements and operational innovations that alleviate congestion and remove critical freight bottlenecks,” he added.
The agency added that those port upgrades should significantly enhance the supply chain movement, since the port is located within 10 miles of I-40 and I-65. Unlike congested waterways, there’s a low-density traffic pattern and potential for rail access to CSX via Nashville Western Railroad, Tennessee DOT pointed out.
Meanwhile, the increased use of river barges to transport cargo should offer less expensive transportation options for the movement of a variety of dry goods from the Ashland City River Port, including material such as cement, steel rebar, aluminum, and rubber.
The agency said construction should start this summer, with phase 1 of this river port project including work on a fixed dock, multi-commodity warehouse, and site improvements.
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