Biden Calls for Infrastructure Upgrades Ahead of Panama Canal Expansion
Vice President Joe Biden urged lawmakers and transportation stakeholders to invest in port-expansion projects to accommodate the large ships that will travel through the expanded Panama Canal next year.
Biden said port-expansion projects in Texas and elsewhere could spark job creation, and a modern transportation infrastructure could boost regional economies.
“The greatest economic power in the world needs the most dynamic ports system in the world. We have to modernize the ports and our entire infrastructure system,” the vice president said Nov. 12 at the American Association of Port Authorities’ annual conference in Houston.
Biden has visited ports throughout the country in recent months to raise awareness of the Panama Canal’s expansion.
The multibillion-dollar expansion project in Latin America, which Biden referred to as the “Eighth wonder of the world,” is meant to allow ships to travel to North America with nearly three times more cargo. Trucking executives, for the most part, support the project, which is expected to be finished within a year.
Currently, the largest types of ships are able to cross the oceans through the Suez Canal.
The ports of Baltimore and Virginia are the East Coast sites able to handle the super-large cargo ships. Other ports are undergoing renovations to compete for the large vessels.
Earlier this year, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a major water policy bill that directs new funding for ports and the management of inland waterways.
#Milestone: With this last shipment, all 16 gates for the expanded #PanamaCanal are in #Panama. pic.twitter.com/Ur2fY9cqPU — Panama Canal (@thepanamacanal) November 12, 2014
