(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation is sending $10 million in grants for maintenance and construction projects in ports at La Crosse, La Pointe, Marinette, Green Bay and Manitowoc.
The grants are part of the Harbor Assistance Program, created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1979 to help harbor communities with maintaining ports.
“The ripple effects of these grants will be felt statewide as we continue investing to strengthen Wisconsin’s maritime economy,” said WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “Supporting all modes of transportation is imperative to improving infrastructure and quality of life for residents and businesses across our state.”
The grants include $3 million to Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette to dredge, repair dock walls, and install mooring bollards and fenders to maintain navigation and moor vessels, $2.3 million to Hanke Terminals in La Crosse to construct a commodity storage building used to expand import and export operations on the Mississippi River and $2 million for the Port of Green Bay and the Fox River Port Development Site to install a dock wall, dredge, fill behind a bulkhead, and regrade property to create a new transload facility at the mouth of the Fox River.
The projects also include $1.8 million for City Centre LLC, in Manitowoc – to construct a load-out pad on the Manitowoc River for assembling, testing, and shipping new portal jibs designed by Konecranes Inc. and $808,000 for the Town of La Pointe Harbor Commission and the Madeline Island Ferry to construct pile clusters, modify the ferry landing, and dredge harbors used by the ferry to transport people, vehicles, and goods from Bayfield to Madeline Island.
The grants came from applications from public or private harbor facilities for projects used for cargo transfer, shipbuilding, commercial fishing, vessel cruises or ferry service.
The projects must show an economic benefit over a 25-year period with selection based on economic impact, urgency and project type. The next round of grants are open until Aug. 1.