Representatives with the proposed Melford International Terminal in Guysborough Co. have awarded an engineering contract.
Richie Mann, the terminal’s vice-president of marketing, says they narrowed 10 firms down to three, then two, and selected BergerABAM to pursue engineering and design work.
He says reps with the Colorado-based company worked on a lot of initial design work in 2008.
Mann tells The Hawk they’ll also be working with Port Hawkesbury Paper reps.
“We’ve signed a contract with them where they will go and cut all the merchantable wood that can be salvaged as wood product- they will cut that,” he says. “They will also take all of the wood that’s not merchantable for biomass, and they will clear the site that we have purchased.”
Mann says they don’t want to commit to a firm timeline, but the engineering contract shows confidence the project will proceed.
He says they probably won’t start clearing in the area until bird nesting season finishes at the end of August.
Mann says demand is heating up for the eastern coast of our country and the U.S.
“The larger ships are starting to call on the East Coast- that’s putting a lot of pressure on the East Coast terminals, in particular, to be able to accommodate them,” he says. “That’s not necessarily from a water depth point of view, that’s from the landside infrastructure that’s required to efficiently handle these extra surges of cargo.”
Mann has said the estimated cost of the project will be $350-$375 million (U.S.).