Missouri

The City of St. Louis' Municipal Terminal serves barge shipping for St. Louis and other cities and states along the Inland Waterway, while also supporting the City's strong warehouse and distribution cluster.  Floods along the Mississippi River in 2008 greatly damaged the South Dock, which handles two-thirds of the St. Louis Municipal River Terminal's output. A study by the St. Louis Development Corporation found that the dock was at the end of its useful life, and if left unrepaired, would cost the port commodity market share, jobs and revenue. Structural integrity has deteriorated so significantly that a "blowout" failure is possible, which would cause injuries and immediately cripple area shipping. The study also indicated that a total collapse was possible in the next several years. 

Major repairs to the dock facility were necessary to ensure that the Port remained functional and did not lose the commodity market share and jobs or reduce revenues and opportunities for growth. EDA responded swiftly, investing $15.6 million to reconstruct the St. Louis Municipal Terminal's South Dock in 2009.  Officially completed and fully operational in February 2014, the project not only prevented catastrophic disruption to the area’s shipping operations along the Mississippi River and ensured the continuation of the area's supply chain commerce, but also enabled the port to handle more barges and provide greater fleeting flexibility.  The revitalization of the City's Municipal Port has enabled the pursuit of container freight operations, which have redefined national and international trade patterns.  The redeveloped port is online to attract new private investment and new businesses such as logistics firms, consolidators, intermodal manufacturers, and trans-shippers.