Cost hits $117 million for lifting transmission lines for passage of bigger cargo ships

The cost of raising huge power lines for jumbo-sized cargo ships will total about $117 million in the final reckoning of an expense that JEA, JaxPort, the city of Jacksonville and the state Department of Transportation will shoulder.

JaxPort says raising the transmission lines spanning the St. Johns River is crucial to keeping cargo flowing to Jacksonville from cargo container ships that are increasing in size and need more clearance when they sail under the lines.

JaxPort previously won commitments from the state Department of Transportation and the city for a $45 million chunk of the funding. JEA and JaxPort would share in the remaining $72 million of the cost but their boards still must vote on how to split that expense.

"The situation is rapidly evolving as the project continues to take shape," JaxPort spokeswoman Chelsea Kavanagh said. "We continue working diligently with JEA to develop a funding plan to present to our board."

Raising the high-voltage lines east of the Dames Point bridge will require the installation of new, taller towers on both sides of the St. Johns River.

The contractor will use crews on helicopters to help set the huge towers and install the lines. The aerial maneuvering will do the projects in phases because the lines are a critical link in JEA's electric grid for keeping the lights on to its customers.

To get the extra-sized material and equipment to the construction site on the south bank side of the project, JEA will use barges on the river rather than truck it through a riverfront neighborhood.

Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group said in a November report to JEA that a review of several options found that going through St. Johns Landing Estates would be the "most economical option," but that might cause damage to driveways and landscaping.

JEA has decided against making St. Johns Landing Estates the access point for moving the biggest items, however, and will direct the contractor to use barges for moving those.

The project still would use a designated route in St. Johns Landing Estates for day-to-day transportation of construction items.

JEA says regional benefit of port justifies financial support

JEA does not typically partner with other entities such as JaxPort for such large investments, but the utility helped the city create Cecil Commerce Center in the 1990s by spending $53 million on electric, water and sewer systems on the big Westside piece of land.

Cecil Commerce Center has grown into a driving force of economic development for the Westside. JaxPort says raising the power lines is likewise crucial to Jacksonville maintaining and expanding cargo from Asian trade lanes where carriers are continually increasing the size of cargo container ships.

"This is part of JEA's mission of improving lives and building community," JEA spokeswoman Karen McAllister said.

JEA initially said it would do the construction but its customers should not pay for it. But as the scope and cost of the project grew, JEA agreed to provide financial support as well to support all the businesses and jobs that depend on maritime trade.

"It's an investment for our region," McAllister said.

She said the work also will modernize that section of the electrical grid by installing newer, more durable components.

"We would not necessarily be doing this without JaxPort's request but all of this will improve the infrastructure," she said.

The port authority previously moved its terminal for Asian-based cargo from the Dames Point terminal, located west of the Dames Point Bridge, to Blount Island on the other side of the bridge so the height of the bridge would not block cargo ships that are growing in size.

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But the height of the power lines still are an obstacle to the mega-ships that are increasing in frequency along the East Coast.

Those ships only carry a portion of the cargo that comes in and out of Jacksonville. The ships that serve Puerto Rico aren't expected to have any problem in the future with the current height of the power lines or the Dames Point bridge. The height doesn't restrict ships carrying automobiles, another big piece of JaxPort's trade.

JaxPort teamed up with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the St. Johns River for the bigger ocean-crossing ships. The deepening finished in May 2022. The deepening project did not include raising the power lines because at the time of the study, the Army Corps of Engineers did not expect ships would grow so much in size and determined the power lines at their current height would not pose a restriction.

( This story has been updated with new information. )

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JaxPort and JEA will share cost for lifting powerlines for cargo ships