The piers, railway tracks, warehouses and roads of the Port of Hamilton represent important components of Canada’s national transportation system. Maintaining and improving these assets is one of the port’s core functions, ensuring tenants and port users have access to the high-quality transportation infrastructure they need to be efficient and globally competitive.
The financial capacity to invest is a critical success factor for Canada’s ports, and HPA’s experience with an important component of its marine infrastructure in the past year illustrates why: In 2017, HPA’s engineers began work on the $5M first stage of replacing the dock wall at the west half of the port’s Pier 12. The Pier 12 dockwall is essential infrastructure for several key port tenants, including Federal Marine Termnals (FMT) and Sylvite. When detailed investigations revealed the need for a much more extensive (and expensive) dockwall replacement, HPA was able to plan and begin implementation of the first stage of the project solution right away, to maintain its customers’ access and service. The remainder of the west half of Pier 12’s dock wall will be replaced in the coming years for a total cost of approximately $12 million dollars.
Every year, HPA reinvests its earnings into port infrastructure, through a program of maintenance, repair and replacement led by its own team of in-house engineers and project managers. In 2017, more than $11.4 million was invested in projects that improve environmental outcomes, security, and service to customers.
Several capital projects in 2017 contributed to improvements in the port’s environmental performance. More than $1,000,000 has been invested in the installation of backflow prevention measures in compliance with municipal requirements over the last 5 years. At Pier 10, more than $600,000 was invested in new site surfacing to reduce track-out dust generated by truck traffic. More than $100,000 was invested in an ongoing program of installing new, energy-efficient light fixtures in HPA-owned warehouses.
HPA often works in partnership with tenants, using its own contributions to leverage greater third party investments. For example, HPA completed $800,000 in structural foundation work for a food processing facility at Pier 10, which helped to ensure a further tenant investment of more than $10 million. Similarly, HPA completed $450,000 in new utility infrastructure at the port’s Pier 22, which laid the groundwork for private sector investment in a new fuel transload facility, serving the southern Ontario consumer market.
Finally, improving service and modal choice for port customers at Pier 10, HPA invested approximately $800,000 in a rail realignment serving Parrish & Heimbecker’s grain terminal and new flour mill.
The Port of Hamilton handles more than $2 billion in cargo each year, which is connected to $6 billion in economic activity and 38,000 jobs in Ontario. By maintaining and improving the port’s transportation infrastructure, the Port of Hamilton keeps cargo moving, facilitates trade, and supports Canadian prosperity.