Kentucky Awards Riverport Grants
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced $2.3 million in grants awarded to eight projects at six of the state’s public riverports January 13.
The awards are from the Kentucky Public Riverport Construction and Maintenance (KPRCM) program. The program invests $7.5 million per fiscal year to fund construction, major replacement or repair projects to improve riverport facilities and infrastructure.
“Kentucky’s riverports are critical economic engines that connect us to national and global markets,” Beshear said. “These awards invest in port efficiency with new equipment and further develop operations at riverports to help our businesses compete and grow.”
The Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority received two awards totaling $730,000. A $520,000 project will replace a deteriorating scale house with a new 1,366-square-foot building, and $210,000 will replace a fertilizer conveyor system. The scale building is critical to bulk yard operations, which account for approximately 55 percent of revenue.
The Eddyville Riverport and Industrial Development Authority was awarded nearly $460,000 for a project to replace and modernize an undersized and aging building. The new facility will support its expanded boat-repair operations and enable more efficient use of the port’s lift.
The Hickman-Fulton County Riverport Authority award of nearly $354,000 goes toward the purchase, engineering and installation of a new, safer and more efficient barge-moving system.
The Henderson County Riverport Authority received more than $320,000 to replace a mobile conveyor system with a new electric material handler.
A $250,000 award to the Western Kentucky Regional Riverport Authority is for excavating the site of a former American Revolutionary War fort, Fort Jefferson, to develop a new 19-acre inland riverport.
The Owensboro Riverport Authority won two awards totaling more than $200,000 to purchase a new yard tractor and a new forklift. The acquisition will modernize its warehouse and improve loading and unloading operations.
Collectively, the projects modernize equipment, expand capacity and improve safety across Kentucky’s riverport system, strengthening the state’s role in regional and national freight movement, the governor’s office said.
