USA: A federal permit has cleared Louisiana’s $1.8 billion container terminal downriver from a bridge that keeps today’s largest ships from reaching existing New Orleans port facilities.

Rendering of the planned Louisiana International Terminal in Violet, Louisiana
Rendering of the planned Louisiana International Terminal in Violet, Louisiana. Illustrative image. Image: Port NOLA.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the permit authorizing construction of the Louisiana International Terminal, according to Port NOLA’s Aug. 17 announcement. Port officials call it the only new greenfield container port currently under development in the United States. “It is a full go,” Port NOLA president and CEO Beth Branch told Louisiana Radio Network. “It moves us really from years and years of engineering and environmental assessments and planning into execution.”

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Why New Orleans needs a terminal below the bridge

Port NOLA’s existing Napoleon Avenue terminal, located above the Crescent City Connection bridge, can accommodate ships carrying roughly 6,400 to 9,400 containers, while port officials say modern vessels can carry more than 16,000. The new terminal will be built in Violet, St. Bernard Parish, downriver from the bridge, eliminating the air-draft restriction entirely. At full buildout, LIT is projected to handle 2 million TEU annually, although the project’s own timeline says reaching that capacity could take approximately 25 years after opening. The terminal is a public-private partnership between Port NOLA, Terminal Investment Limited — the port terminal operating arm of MSC — and Ports America, and will connect to six Class I railroads through the New Orleans Public Belt and to the interstate highway system.

Construction could begin in 2026 — but no date is set

The permit allows Port NOLA and its private-sector partners to move the project into its next phase, but the Aug. 17 announcement provides no firm groundbreaking date or updated total project cost. The project’s website lists more than $1.78 billion in public, port and private funding commitments, although those figures are dated June 2024. Louisiana Radio Network reports that local opponents intend to challenge the approval, although no filed lawsuit or court docket was identified.

What to watch

Watch for an updated budget, construction contract and delivery schedule as the project moves toward execution, since Branch has said only that construction is expected to start “sometime” in 2026 without a firmer date. Also worth tracking: whether the reported opposition in St. Bernard Parish results in an actual legal filing, and how that would affect the timeline.

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