Leatherman Terminal in Charleston named one of the top U.S. engineering projects

Listen to this article

South Carolina Ports’ Leatherman Terminal was recently recognized as one of the top engineering projects in the country.

The American Council of Engineering Companies recognized Leatherman Terminal as a 2023 Grand Award Winner and as a finalist for the 2023 Grand Conceptor Award, which signifies the year’s best overall engineering achievement, according to a news release.

“The SC Ports’ engineering team is proud to receive this prestigious recognition,” said Walter Lagarenne, SC Ports’ vice president of engineering and facilities, in the release.  “Hundreds of people from engineering discipline worked together on the site every day to build this container terminal. It was the best project coordination I’ve seen in my nearly 40-year career.”

The state-of-the-art Leatherman Terminal opened in April 2021, marking the first new greenfield container terminal to open in the U.S. since 2009.

The SC Ports’ engineering team worked with many contractors on the project, including HDR Inc., Banks Construction Co., Samet Corp., Camp Romain/McLean A. Joint Venture and Cape Romain Contractors Inc. The $1 billion project was completed on time and under budget, according to the release.

“The complexities of building a container terminal require great teamwork and persistence over many years” said Butch Weber, SC Ports’ general manager of project management and construction. “SC Ports is proud to add a world-class port terminal to the East Coast port market.”

Situated along the Cooper River in North Charleston, Leatherman Terminal has 169-foot-tall ship-to-shore cranes. Phase One of the Terminal can handle 700,000 TEUs of cargo and a 20,000 TEU vessel. At full buildout, the terminal will have three berths capable of handling 2.4 million TEUs of cargo.