Last week, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the award of more than $241 million in discretionary grant funding for 25 projects to improve port facilities in 19 states and one territory through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). One of those 25 grant awards is to the City of Superior in the amount of $8,368,000 to aid The C. Reiss Company in rehabilitating their dock on the western end of the Superior Port. C. Reiss’ proposed over $17 million project includes:
- Repair and replacement of 2,525 lineal feet of dock wall.
- Dredging 48,000 cubic yards of material with some environmental mitigation;
- Rail improvements including the installation of five switches and repair and extension of track;
- Storm water improvements;
- Road and utility improvements;
- Construction of a 5,000 square foot office, repair shop and storage space;
- Establishment of an equipment truck scale, rail scale, stacking conveyor and telescoping loading conveyor.
The C. Reiss Company, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Harbor Assistance Program will also be funding portions of this project.
Currently, C. Reiss operates their bulk handling on the Duluth side of the St. Louis River. However due to increasing water levels that cause annual flooding at their current facility, the company has been working to relocate to Superior at an existing dock they have owned for a number of years.
C. Reiss, with more than 140 years of operation, handles two million tons of bulk materials annually out of its four docks, including coal, limestone, petroleum coke, and salt. Of the two million tons, 650,000 tons of material is shipped out of Duluth. The move to Superior will allow them to double their productivity due to the increased rail capacity at the Superior location, providing them twice the space for rail and truck loading and unloading and vessel loading.
C. Reiss’ Vice-President of Operations Christian Zuidmulder stated, “We are very appreciative of the PIDP grant award and look forward to moving to our Superior location.”
Jason Serck, City of Superior Economic Development, Planning and Port Director added, “We are excited to help facilitate the redevelopment of this longtime vacant dock in the Superior Port. Most importantly, it will make C. Reiss a more efficient company, and this project will continue to build on all the development successes we have had in the Twin Ports.”
City of Superior Contact:
Jason Serck
Planning, Economic Development & Port Director,
715-395-7335
planning@ci.superior.wi.us
The C. Reiss Company Contact:
Mark W. Cummings
President, The C. Reiss Co.
920.436.7600 ext-102
Mark.Cummings@thecreiss.com
