The GSA awarded a $264M contract to Brasfield & Gorrie LLC for the Brownsville-Gateway Port of Entry modernization project. The project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will enhance security, increase trade capacity, and create jobs while incorporating sustainable design features.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced on Dec. 19, 2024, that it awarded a $263,906,507 design-build contract to Brasfield & Gorrie LLC for the Brownsville-Gateway Land Port of Entry modernization project.
The Birmingham, Ala.-based company will provide design-build services for a modernization project that will strengthen security, enhance trade and create jobs by replacing all existing buildings at the land port of entry with new modern facilities.
This critical infrastructure project includes $213.5 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to support increased port capacity while securely facilitating trade and travel between the United States and Mexico. This contract leverages more than $50 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds that are critical to its completion, including $48.3 million for American-made low-embodied carbon construction materials, including asphalt, concrete, glass and steel.
"This modernized land port of entry stands as a testament to the Biden Administration's commitment to transformative investments that enhance safety and security while driving economic growth," GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said. "These strategic upgrades are a triple win: generating high-quality jobs that fortify our economy and national security, reducing taxpayer expenses through energy efficiency, and paving the way for a more resilient and thriving future for our communities."
The Brownsville-Gateway Land Port of Entry on 9 acres in downtown Brownsville, Texas, is a vital crossing point for approximately 92,000 passenger vehicles and 89,000 pedestrians each month, traveling across the Gateway International Bridge. In operation since the 1920s, the port of entry has seen limited renovations since the 1990s, making this project crucial to update and modernize the facility to enhance security and efficiency.
The modernization project will renovate the current land port of entry by demolishing existing facilities and expanding key areas. A new 48,000-sq.-ft. administration building will replace the current 22,000-sq.-ft. space, providing a modern workspace for federal inspection agencies. The inspection area will expand to 10 primary lanes and 24 secondary inspection spaces with canopies, up from five lanes and 15 spaces, respectively. The 500-sq.-ft. headhouse will be upgraded to a new 6,000-sq,-ft. foot building.
Additional upgrades include a new 9,000-sq.-ft. outbound inspection area and new parking lots to accommodate staff and visitors. Design will begin this February with construction scheduled to begin in summer 2026. Completion is scheduled for late 2029.
The new port of entry will be all-electric, meeting the Federal Building Performance Standards, and will feature water-saving fixtures and energy-efficient building systems. These material selections alone will avoid 200 to 300 metric tons of climate-warming carbon emissions that would otherwise be associated with the manufacture of equivalent "industry-average" building materials — this is equivalent to taking about 60 gas-powered cars off the road for a year.
"This complete overhaul of the primary lanes and CBP administrative building infrastructure at Gateway is a vital, much-needed project that will provide our employees with the updated workspace essential to fulfilling our national and economic security mission," Acting Deputy Commissioner Pete Flores said. "This critical infrastructure project will enable CBP to be able to process a much larger volume of passenger vehicle and pedestrian traffic while still upholding the agency's priority border security mission through an effective deployment of CBP officers, canines and non-intrusive inspection system technology."
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, GSA is building and modernizing dozens of land ports of entry on the country's northern and southern borders. The investments will improve commerce and trade, enhance security, create good-paying jobs and incorporate innovative cost-saving sustainability features.
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