Kentucky Authority Expanding Port

The Henderson County, Ky., Riverport Authority is expanding its inland waterway dock system. The decision to expand comes with strong demand for shipment of bulk cargo through the port authority.

To accomplish this the Riverport Authority awarded a big to M. Bowling Inc., a local construction company, to build a new barge dock to service scrap metal, as well as fertilizer and other commodities.

According to Bill Howard, a spokesman for the Riverport Authority, the construction project, which will cost around $1.6 million, should be complete by this October. The new dock is expected to have a 125-ton pedestal crane on the site, although longer term the port authority would like to invest in a much larger crane to allow it to do more large-scale contract work.

The new dock facility will free up the existing dock at the Henderson site to load more cargo onto barges.

River Metals, a scrap recycling company that is has expanded its operations at the port area, is expected to boost the amount of scrap metal it can load on to barges when the new dock space is complete.

Howard said that the port has seen significant amount of barge movement from metals-based companies, including steel mills, as well as aluminum and zinc producers.