US-based construction company McCarthy Building Companies began construction in Oct. on a new container yard within Port Houston, located in Pasadena, Texas.
According to a press release from the 150 years old company, the project with Port Houston, will be a 45-acre expansion on the existing Bayport Container Terminal in continued efforts to grow and modernize the port.
The development will aid in the port’s ability to serve the continued growth of Houston’s container exports of finished petrochemical, agricultural and other products made in Texas and imports of consumer items like food, clothing and furniture to support the fast-growing regional population.
“McCarthy is proud of our long-standing relationship with Port Houston,” said Kurt Knebel, McCarthy’s Southern Region Executive Vice President of Operations. “Since 1991, McCarthy has worked with the port to deliver complex marine projects that fit the needs of an expanding enterprise, and we are eager to follow suit on the Bayport Container Yard project.”
The project will consist of the installation of new electrical duct banks, controls and lighting, updated storm drainage and utility systems, as well as a roller compacted concrete (RCC) pavement section. The RCC layer is a variation of traditional concrete pavement that uses a special concrete mix design and compacts it with rollers once it is placed. This method is more in-line with how asphalt is placed rather than traditional concrete paving methods. RCC benefits Port Houston in both initial and life-cycle costs.
Performing deep excavations along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico provides a challenge due to the site’s proximity to the water table. To combat this, the project team will utilize dewatering techniques to maintain water levels to a minimum in areas of deep excavations for installing new utilities.
Other Port Houston projects McCarthy has completed include the Bayport Wharf II, Bayport Phase I Stage II Container Yard, Bayport Gate Complex, Bayport Port Road, Bayport Phase I Stage I RCC and Bayport Wharf I.