Port of Fort Smith receives another grant for flood recovery work

The Port of Fort Smith has received an almost $2 million grant from the Arkansas Waterways Commission that will help fund a new warehouse and is part of the effort to rebuild from the 2019 flood that significantly damaged the product-handling facility.

The $1.98 million grant will be used to construct a 20,000-square-foot warehouse and a large concrete pad with perimeter walls to store bulk products, and the grant will help cover costs of a recently constructed warehouse, according to Marty Shell, owner of Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution, which manages the Fort Smith port.

A previous $500,000 grant from the commission in July 2024 was used to help fund a $1.7 million, 30,000-square-foot bulk storage warehouse at the port. Shell said in 2024 that about $6 million had been spent at the port to recover from flood damage, with all of the money coming from grants, insurance proceeds, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money.

Shell praised Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman for helping the port “become essentially a brand new port” following the 2019 flood damage.

“The Port of Fort Smith is the newest terminal on our (Arkansas River) system with the rebuild of what was originally built back in 1969,” Shell said after the $1.98 million grant was announced. “Hats off to Mr. Dingman, and job well done.”

Dingman said insurance proceeds and state and federal grants “have been critical” to the rebuild. He also said the process allowed Shell, the port commission, and the city to focus on a more flood-resistant port.

“What it really made us do, was that if we were going to put the port back together, it made us come up with a plan,” Dingman said. “We don’t want to build something that will just flood and be gone again.”

Dingman said rebuilding the port also helped “modernize the function and make it more attractive to customers.” He said port operations under Shell have proven successful, and a growing capacity demand may require them to look at adding more warehouses and other facilities on adjacent property owned by the port.

The 28-acre port operation is located near the confluence of the Poteau and Arkansas Rivers at 200 Navy Road in Fort Smith.

2019 FLOOD
Record flooding along the Arkansas River (McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, or MKARNS) in May and early June 2019 covered more than 2,100 parcels of land and flooded more than 500 homes and businesses in Fort Smith alone.

The floods stopped commercial barge traffic on the Arkansas River at a cost of $23 million a day to the state’s gross domestic product. The river crested May 29 in the Fort Smith area at 40.26 feet, well above the flood stage of 22 feet and surpassing the all-time highest river level of 38.1 feet set in May 1945.