A Port System Rebuilding for a Different Trade World

U.S. seaports handled 25.5 million TEUs of containerized imports in 2024—their second-busiest year on record. The infrastructure behind that volume is being remade from the waterline up. Port authorities and their tenants had planned more than $163 billion in capital expenditure through 2025, and new projects continue to be announced in 2026. The driving force is competitive pressure: the next generation of ultra-large container vessels, some carrying more than 24,000 TEUs with drafts exceeding 52 feet, can only call at ports deep enough and equipped enough to receive them.

Ports that fall behind on depth, rail access, and terminal capacity risk losing direct-call services to competitors—and losing the warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing demand that follows the cargo inland.

Channel Depth Has Become the Defining Variable

The Port of Virginia completed a 55-foot channel deepening in February 2025, making it the deepest commercial shipping channel on the U.S. East Coast. The $450 million project also widened the channel to 1,400 feet in key areas, enabling two-way traffic for ultra-large vessels—an operational advantage no other East Coast port currently matches. Virginia now targets 5.8 million TEUs of annual capacity, with a fifth ULCV berth under construction.

Charleston finished a 52-foot deepening in late 2022 and is pursuing further deepening toward a goal of 10 million TEUs of annual capacity. Savannah completed its own deepening to 47 feet—effective 54 feet at high tide given the port's 7-foot tidal swing—and the Georgia Ports Authority is now pursuing 52-foot authorization as part of a $4.5 billion expansion plan targeting 9 million TEUs by 2035. That plan includes 21 new ship-to-shore cranes, a new container terminal on Hutchinson Island, and raising the Talmadge Bridge to accommodate taller ships.

On the Gulf Coast, Houston's Project 11 is widening the Houston Ship Channel—the nation's busiest waterway with 20,000 vessel transits per year—from 530 to 700 feet. Port Houston reported in March 2026 that approximately 76% of the project's total length has been completed, with Port-led Segments 1 and 2 finished ahead of schedule. Full completion is targeted for 2029.

On-Dock Rail Has Become the New Battleground

Channel depth gets ships in the door. Rail gets cargo to customers. The ports winning the fight for discretionary cargo—shipments that could route through any of several gateways—are the ones that can move containers off the waterfront and onto trains fastest.

The Port of Virginia leads the East Coast with approximately 37% of containers moving by rail, the highest share on the Atlantic seaboard. Its $83 million Central Rail Yard expansion, completed in August 2024, boosted port-wide rail capacity by 31% to 2 million TEUs annually.

Charleston's Navy Base Intermodal Facility—a $400 million-plus project that opened in 2025-2026—provides 1 million rail lifts annually with equal access to two railroads, a competitive advantage unique among East Coast ports. Inbound Logistics reported that the facility also includes a dedicated one-mile drayage road segregating intermodal traffic from nearby Interstate 26.

On the West Coast, Long Beach's $1.567 billion Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility broke ground in 2024 with completion targeted for 2032. When finished, it will more than triple on-dock rail capacity to 4.7 million TEUs and double daily train departures—the largest single port rail investment in U.S. history.

Terminal Construction: Active Projects Coast to Coast

Beyond channels and rail, terminal construction is underway at multiple major ports:

• Port of Savannah: The Georgia Ports Authority is transforming a 200-acre Ocean Terminal into a container-only facility. Wharf renovations are underway, with completion of the full terminal redevelopment expected later in 2026. Eight new ship-to-shore cranes will serve the terminal, allowing it to handle two large container ships simultaneously.
• Port of Galveston: A $106 million West Port Cargo Complex expansion added a new 1,434-foot berth for 46-foot-draft ships, with work on slip filling for additional cargo space beginning in January 2026. The port is commissioning the new berth in the second half of 2026.
• Port of Long Beach: A $365 million terminal expansion is underway to create more container stacking space, with completion slated for late 2028.
• Port of Los Angeles: The Fenix Marine Services Terminal expansion and LA TiL Container Terminal wharf and rail upgrades are advancing, while a proposed Pier 500 Marine Container Terminal—described by its proponents as the "greenest terminal in the world"—remains in permitting.
• Port of Anchorage: The municipality of Anchorage awarded an $800 million contract for a new terminal. Port Director Steve Ribuffo described it as "probably the biggest infrastructure project that the state of Alaska has seen since the Trans-Alaska pipeline."

Federal Funding: $488 Million Available in FY2026, but the Clock Is Running

Federal port investment has been turbocharged by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. MARAD confirmed that $488.6 million is available for the FY2026 Port Infrastructure Development Program, combining $450 million from the IIJA allocation with an additional $38.6 million from the FY2026 Appropriations Act. Applications for FY2026 PIDP grants are due June 1, 2026.

The IIJA provided $2.25 billion for PIDP over five years, 2022 through 2026. That authorization expires September 30, 2026, and no successor legislation has been introduced. Port authorities face potential capital constraints at the precise moment when the construction pipeline is most active. The American Association of Port Authorities has requested $10.9 billion over five years for PIDP in any FY2027-2031 reauthorization.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates U.S. water transportation infrastructure needs at $45 billion over the 2024-2033 decade—a figure that dwarfs current committed federal resources.

Why This Investment Cycle Matters Beyond the Waterfront

Port construction creates a multiplier effect on the surrounding economy. Every channel deepening that attracts a new direct-call vessel service reduces shipping costs and transit times for importers in that region. Every on-dock rail facility that gets built pulls manufacturing and distribution facilities toward the inland corridors those trains serve. The ASCE notes the port and maritime industry contributes $311 billion to U.S. GDP and supports 2.5 million jobs.

For owners, developers, and contractors tracking large project pipelines, U.S. seaports represent one of the most active and capital-intensive construction sectors in the country right now—and that activity is expected to continue well into the 2030s regardless of near-term federal funding questions.

Sources

• MARAD – Port Infrastructure Development Program FY2026 (updated April 29, 2026)
• MMCG Invest – America's Ports Are Racing to Rebuild for a Trade Landscape Nobody Predicted (March 27, 2026)
• Inbound Logistics – Ports in Motion: 11 Infrastructure Projects Shaping U.S. Supply Chains (April 2026)
• Port Houston – Project 11 Recognized for Engineering Excellence (March 2026)
• WorkBoat – MARAD Announces $488.6 Million in Port Infrastructure Grants (March 26, 2026)