[7/20/04]The Port of Vicksburg will be included in a case study that will give the local Mississippi River connection a free look into the future.

“The Vicksburg port was chosen for this study because it has seen recent dynamic growth and has the potential for significant growth in the near future,” Dick Hall, Central District commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said in announcing the port has been picked for the study of slack water Mississippi River ports.

“This study will ultimately benefit all Mississippi River ports,” he said.

The port is owned by Warren County and the Warren County Port Commission.

It is the only river port that will specifically be mentioned in the study’s results.

Hall said some of the topics to be covered in the study are landside access (including major connecting highways), long-term intermodal freight-connection potential, freight forecasts and the potential for container to barge shipping. The plan will also provide an overall needs assessment and financial plan.

Jimmy Heidel, former port director, said the port was selected for inclusion in the study after an application to the Mississippi Department of Transportation. He estimated the dollar value of the study at $200,000.

Heidel said the study will tell the county and port commission how the Port of Vicksburg should be positioned and equipped to take advantage of coming trends in transportation.

“They called me and asked What do you want in the study?'” Heidel said. “We are getting basically a free analysis of where the Port of Vicksburg should be and the facilities it will need in 10, 15 and 20 years.”

He said the interstates are already overcrowded, the railroads are getting that way and that leaves water transportation as a viable alternative in shipping goods.

John Moss, chairman of the port commission, said he hoped the study would give the commission an idea of what it should be doing to accommodate coming trends in transportation.

The study will be performed by Wilbur Smith Associates, Hall said.