Ingram, TDOT Advance Port Development

The Mid TN Riverport, part of a public-private partnership between the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and Ingram Marine Group, is expected to open in December.

The port is being built at Cumberland River Mile 162 in Ashland City, Tenn. By land, it is accessible via Thompson Road in Cheatham County’s industrial park.

Dan Pallme, TDOT’s director of passenger transportation for rail and freight, said the state of Tennessee provided $3 million in connectivity grant funding to build a pier at the site. Ingram Marine Group contributed $30 million for remaining facilities on 40 acres of land. The site includes 400 feet of river frontage, two acres of outdoor storage, 40,000 square feet of climate-controlled indoor storage and an additional 15 acres of developable property.

The port is designed to handle both breakbulk and bulk cargoes, including wire rod, natural rubber, rebar, aluminum and cement, according to a two-page information sheet Ingram Marine Group provided to TDOT about the project.

Pallme said construction on the pier has been completed, with work on the rest of the site ongoing.

The project was a good fit for the state as it fills part of the need for multimodal transportation convenient to the Nashville area following the closing of Cherokee Marine Terminal, Cumberland River Mile 189, in February 2020, he said. That terminal’s property was directly within the footprint of River North, a massive, multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development in East Nashville. The land was repurposed to clear the way for a corporate and residential hub. The site later became notable as a major campus location for Oracle Corporation, which specializes in cloud infrastructure, database software and artificial intelligence (AI).

Ashland City, roughly 20 miles downriver from Nashville, was a good fit for a port in part because of its proximity within 10 miles of both interstates 65 and 40, with minimal highway congestion, according to Ingram Marine Group. The site also has potential for rail access to CSX via Nashville & Western Railroad.

“With the rail connection, the waterway connection and the good highway access, it hit all of the variables that you want,” Pallme said.

The project is an example of the benefit of leveraging public-private partnerships, Deputy Gov. and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley said in announcing the project last year.

“Strategic partnerships like this represent the kind of forward-thinking solutions essential to addressing Tennessee’s evolving infrastructure needs,” Eley said. “TDOT remains committed to exploring every opportunity to strengthen our regional and national economic competitiveness by advancing infrastructure enhancements and operational innovations that alleviate congestion and remove critical freight bottlenecks.”

TDOT noted in a news release that barging is the most sustainable form of transportation “as it causes less congestion, mitigates expensive transportation costs and reduces air pollution.”

Featured photo caption: A rendering shows the proposed port being built as part of a public-private partnership between the Tennessee Department of Transportation and Ingram Marine Group in Ashland City, Tenn. (Image courtesy of Ingram Marine Group)