VII. ECONOMIC ISSUES AND IMPACTS 



Harbor and channel facilities are only one 

 element in a constantly changing and improving 

 transportation network. The emerging trends in 

 commodity movements and vessel technology indi- 

 cate important changes ahead for the whole 

 transportation system. Vessels of 50,000 dwt are 

 forecast to handle container-ship cargo and dry 

 bulk vessels of 100,000 dw^t are foreseen. Petro- 

 leum movements are forecast in vessels of up to 

 400,000 dwt size. If existing land distribution and 

 terminal facilities are not capable of servicing these 

 vessels, the transportation savings will not materi- 

 alize to the fullest extent. 



Information in the preceding sections indicates 

 that development or redevelopment of harbor and 

 port facihties will be an expensive undertaking for 

 both public and private investors. In the absence 

 of careful planning and implementation there is 

 serious risk— to Federal as well as non-Federal 

 resources— of large and uneconomical investments. 



It also follows that with modernized harbor, 

 channel, and terminal facilities capable of servicing 

 larger geographic areas, that the number of receiv- 

 ing or shipping points for ultra-large bulk volumes 

 can and should be restricted. 



Careful planning also will be required to safe- 

 guard investments in container-service faciUtie^, 

 even though harbor-channel problems will be less 

 severe than for supertankers. A recent report by 

 the Maritime Administration stated clearly that 

 mere modernization of any port will not insure the 

 economic feasibility of improvements: 



More than ever before, other factors will deter- 

 mine the new traffic distribution patterns. Factors 

 such as inland transportation facilities and high- 

 way systems, which are both beyond the immedi- 

 ate control of port officials, will influence the 

 routing of containerized freight. On the seaward 

 size of the marine terminal and wharf facilities, the 

 economics of interoceanic container movements 

 dictate that the new full containerships will call at 

 an ever-decreasing number of ports. The very 

 nature of containerization and intermodal trans- 

 portation make it possible to handle cargo as a 

 thru service from an inland point of origin to an 

 inland point of destination. This characteristic 

 nullifies the principle that when modem terminal 



facilities are made available the traffic is sure to 

 follow. ' ^ 



As stated earlier, volumes of ocean trade are 

 forecast to increase substantially. Consequently, 

 the problem is one of determining which ports 

 should be prepared to handle what type of traffic 

 and in what volumes; what degree of port speciali- 

 zation wiU be required to insure an efficient and 

 economically viable deep-water shipping network; 

 what combination of investments. Federal and 

 non-Federal, pubhc and private, are needed to 

 bring about an efficient system? 



VIM. AN OUTLINE FOR PROGRESS 



For a very sizeable number of U.S. cities, the 

 waterfront and harbor area was originally the 

 economic key to the development of the commu- 

 nity and the related interior lands. When the cities 

 were young, the waterfronts were living, dynamic 

 areas which provided employment and recreation, 

 market places and parks, warehouses and con- 

 sumer outlets, and contact with nature at the 

 water's edge. Today, many of these waterfronts 

 are neither Uving nor dynamic, and nature has 

 been crowded out or poisoned. 



As pointed out, existing port areas are be- 

 coming obsolete because of rapid changes occur- 

 ring and foreseen in transportation technology. 

 Abandoned piers, warehouses and hulks clutter 

 many of our waterfronts, contributing to harbor 

 areas being a focus for decay and unsightliness. 



These undesirable remnants, as well as the 

 existing but technically inadequate terminal facili- 

 ties, require replacement to permit more efficient 

 servicing of larger, more productive ships. 



The problem is highly complex. It transcends 

 the ports themselves and includes the inland 

 transportation networks, plus the recognition that 

 the pattern of needs for seaports may be quite 

 different in the future. It includes consideration of 

 port and harbor operations on highly complicated 

 ecological networks. It includes determination of 

 poUution control in harbor areas and waterways. 

 And it must consider the need for urban renewal 

 and recognize growing requirements for recreation 

 facilities in congested urban areas. 



'^Maritime Administration, "Information and Prelimi- 

 nary Criteria on Planning Container Terminals," 

 December 1967. 



III-72 



