Port to repair rail line with $1 million grant

The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded a $1 million grant to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge to rebuild a rail line at the marine terminal which was damaged by Mississippi River flooding in spring 2011.

The money was part of a $200 million appropriation Congress made to help communities that received a major disaster designation in fiscal 2011.

Jay Hardman, the port’s executive director, said it would take between $2.1 million and $2.5 million to fix the nearly 8,500 feet of railroad track at the terminal.

The port will pay for the remaining costs not covered by the $1 million grant.

Port commissioners voted last week to pay for the work on the rail line.

The project should go out for bid in January or February and the work will take four to six months to complete, Hardman said.

“It’s not a complicated project and we have a pretty good topographic survey,” he said. “We want to get the drainage working real well.”