Even if supply chain delays continue to create headaches, commercial real estate professionals may be glad to know that the St. Louis region is uniquely positioned to benefit from its Mississippi River location when transporting products and materials globally.
An Ag Coast of America Mississippi Riverboat trip during a recent FreightWeekSTL conference highlighted the St. Louis region’s freight assets and role as a global freight and logistics hub, thanks to ranking as America’s third-largest inland port and one of the most competitive such ports in the country.
The week-long conference, hosted by the St. Louis Regional Freightway for the past five years, highlighted the role of St. Louis in innovations and partnerships aimed at making national and global freight movements more efficient.
The boat trip provided a unique vantage point on regional freight assets, according to Susan Taylor, director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, in an overview of opportunities that are key to the region’s global connectivity.
“The all-water routes offer efficient freight transportation options, providing shippers with access from the St. Louis region to critical transportation channels and global ports. While barges play a key role in the movement of product through the region, they are just one piece of our excellent multimodal infrastructure,” Taylor said.
Important elements of that infrastructure include national access via Interstates 44, 55, 64 and 70; major cities of Kansas City, Chicago, Memphis and Indianapolis within a five-hour or less drive; a 500-mile drive of a third of the U.S. population; multiple bridges over the river to move goods and people; six Class I Railroads creating the third-largest rail hub in the USA; and two international cargo airports.
“Global connectivity with regular trains leaving the St. Louis region gives access to three West Coast ports — Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland (Cali.) — and two East Coast ports —Newark/NYC and Norfolk (Va.) — [for] service to Europe, Asia, Far East, Africa, Australia and the Middle East,” Taylor said.
The system includes four publicly-owned ports and more than 200 privately owned river terminals with substantial fleeting operations. The St. Louis port system is responsible for 8 percent of the river, or 70 of its 855 miles.
“These 70 miles carry more than one-third of the river’s total freight,” she said.
The St. Louis port system has commercial, industrial, manufacturing and warehouse/distribution facilities and is home to Foreign Trade Zone No. 102, which extends over 19 miles of riverfront and includes six major barge lines, 500 fleeting berths, two rail bridges and six vehicle bridges, and 46 docks and terminals. It handles 18 million tons a year in grains, feeds, fertilizer, chemicals, coal, steel and petroleum products.
Eric Fields, chief engineer with the Terminal Rail Road Association, provided an update on the $222 million project underway to improve Merchants Bridge, the oldest bridge over the river — it dates to 1891 — and “the region’s #1 freight infrastructure priority since 2016.”
The bridge project capitalizes on a new wave of larger ocean carrier container vessels, projected global growth in the container market by 2030 and an emphasis on reducing truck traffic on U.S. highways.
“Most containers heading to the Midwest move by rail from California or eastern ports,” Fields said. “Ports in the bi-state St. Louis area and other Midwest regions are working together and with the Gulf Coast ports to provide container-on-barge (COB) and a proposed container-on-vessel (COV) service.”
The St. Louis region is partnering with the Port of New Orleans on COB services. Among the key elements of that effort is ARCOSA Marine Products, which is developing a new barge that will be able to carry more containers than traditional barges can handle.
Fields said that the proposed centralized development would use a hub-and-spoke transportation system for container transport vessel shipments from the Port of Plaquemines to the St. Louis Region, with feeder services by rail, barge and truck throughout the Mississippi River Basin. That approach will reduce costs and increase the efficiency of transportation.
“Ideally, goods could be shipped upriver, and agricultural products along with other commodities that can withstand the additional transit time could be shipped downriver,” he said.
Agricultural activity on the river is expected to grow thanks to increased demand for exports, Fields said.
“Currently, 50 percent of U.S. crops and livestock are produced within a 500-mile radius of the St. Louis region, including approximately 80 percent of corn and soybean acreage. Moving food across the globe is just as important as agriculture production, and the St. Louis region is well-equipped to handle the demand. The region is seeing a direct economic impact as a result of this increase and its capacity to handle additional amounts of grain and agricultural products.”
The Freightway is a Bi-State Development enterprise that aims to create a regional freight district and comprehensive authority for freight operations and opportunities in eight Illinois and Missouri counties that comprise the St. Louis region.
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Feature Photo: Progress on the third truss of Merchants Bridge. Photo credit: St. Louis Regional Freightway.