McCarthy Construction Cos. was recently awarded three construction projects aimed at expanding cargo capacity at Port Houston and the Houston Ship Channel.

Two of the projects, totaling $99 million, are for the port's expansions at its Bayport Container and Barbours Cut terminals. The third is to expand a dock along the Houston Ship Channel for a petrochemical company, McCarthy said in a release.

The Bayport Container Terminal project at Wharf 6 includes construction of a 1,000-ft.-long wharf to allow for the latest generation of container cranes, enabling larger ships to call Port Houston. Construction on Wharf 6 is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Wharf 6 at the Bayport Container Terminal is undergoing a $200 million expansion to stay ahead of the continuing growth in cargo volume, port officials said.

"If you look at a wharf, it doesn't do as much good to build a wharf if we don't build a yard behind it, and it doesn't do as much good to build the wharf or the yard if we don't buy the equipment to run it," Thomas J. Heidt, Port Houston's chief operating officer, said during the port commission meeting.

Port Houston handled 288,127 20-ft. equivalent units in May, a 30 percent increase compared to the same month in 2020.

McCarthy also is adding 10 acres of new shipping container storage at the Barbours Cut Terminal Container Yard 3N, the company said. The project, which also includes utility and road upgrades, is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

McCarthy also was awarded a project by an international petrochemical bulk storage terminal services company located in Port Houston. McCarthy declined to name the company at this time.

The petrochemical operator project is for the construction of a new unloading barge dock and the addition to an existing bulkhead wall. It is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

St. Louis-based McCarthy has worked on various projects at Port Houston over the past 30 years. The company recently completed projects at Bayport Container Terminal wharves 4 and 5, as well as a new container yard project at the Barbours Cut Terminal.

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