As a self-supporting public agency, the mission of the Jacksonville Port Authority is to be the driving economic engine in northeast Florida as a premier diversified port with connections to major world-wide trade lanes. JAXPORT owns and operates three public marine cargo terminals, and one passenger cruise terminal: the Blount Island Marine Terminal, the Talleyrand Marine Terminal, the Dames Point Marine Terminal, and the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal. JAXPORT develops, manages, and markets these publicly owned facilities to promote the growth of maritime and related industries in Jacksonville and beyond. The Port of Jacksonville moves about 18 million short tons of cargo each year and has an annual economic impact of over $31 billion.

HDR has supported JAXPORT for over 10 years as the on-call A/E consultant for a broad spectrum of infrastructure capital improvements, providing JAXPORT with engineering design and construction support, including resident construction oversight, for nearly $200 million in capital facilities improvements.

Tasks have included:

• Facilities inspections and condition reports for all major waterfront infrastructure including wharves and piers, bridges, drainage systems and surface paving
• Construction of full rail infrastructure upgrade and replacement at Blount Island Marine Terminal, including on-dock rail
• Facilities-wide drainage, rail siding and pavement improvements
• Concept development and feasibility study for expanding the capacity of the Buck Island Dredged Material Management Area. Design and permitting services for expansion of existing DMMA at Buck Island
• Engineering and design of localised repairs to the wharf structure at Blount Island Marine Terminal Berth 30 to allow continued tenant operations
• Major wharf reconstruction projects at Blount Island and Talleyrand Marine Terminal, including capacity upgrades at Blount Island. These projects encompass eight operating mixed cargo wharves totalling 1.3 miles of major facility reconstruction. All reconstruction work was performed with minimal interruption to vessel or yard/cargo operations.
• Design for construction of a tracked equipment storage yard utilising fiber-reinforced concrete
• Design for construction of a leading-edge infrared camera security system in the rail yard leading into Talleyrand Marine Terminal
• Security enhancement projects, including installation of access control and CCTV and analytics hardware and software for centralised security command and control
• Hazardous material monitoring and management for legacy contaminated properties at Talleyrand Marine Terminal
• Engineering and design of foundations for a new stair tower to service Carnival Cruise Lines operations
• Conceptual study to modify an existing dry bulk facility for Ro-Ro applications
• Construction supervision and observation (select projects)
• Support in evaluating further planning objectives, such as forecasting cost and implications for future facility improvements necessary for harbour deepening, procurement of post-Panamax capable cranes and crane electrification

JAXPORT officials have said: “HDR has provided an outstanding level of service in support of our implementation of a capital improvement and infrastructure development plan. Throughout the execution of their work to date, HDR has demonstrated their commitment to providing a high level of client service."