Feds finally approve work on slackwater harbor in Van Buren

Work on the more than $18 million slackwater harbor at the Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution may finally begin later this year, almost 3 years after federal funding was first announced, according to the Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority (WAIA).

The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced in November 2023 a $15.096 million grant to help fund construction of the harbor. The harbor will be off the main channel of the Arkansas River and will be 1,000 feet long and 200 feet wide and have the capacity to moor and offload up to eight barges at a time. The harbor will have roughly 2,000 feet of dock frontage with a 50-foot-wide concrete deck for mobile cranes.

Five Rivers Distribution, which has port operations in Van Buren and operates the Port of Fort Smith, has committed to providing supporting funds — almost $4 million — for the project.

The initial slackwater construction estimate of $18.16 million is from the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District (WAPDD), the parent agency of the WAIA. The authority was formed in 2011 to seek funding to improve or add intermodal facilities in the Fort Smith region.

WAIA recently received approval from MARAD to begin harbor construction. Work on the project has been delayed by engineering and environmental reviews, with a factor in the delays being turnover among MARAD officials overseeing the project, said Five Rivers President Marty Shell.

Ashley Garris, WAPDD assistant executive director, said the next steps are to complete design work, which is now about 90% finished, and begin the process to hire a construction manager. Anchorage, Alaska-based PND Engineers is handling engineering design, with Fort Smith-based Mickle Griffin the engineering subcontractor, Garris said. She said material procurement, primarily steel, is also part of the next steps for the harbor project.

Garris said construction should begin by November, with completion possible in July 2027.

“I’m super excited for dirt to start turning so that people will actually believe it is happening,” Garris said. “We’ve talked about it for so many years, that when we’re doing that (work), people will see that it’s real.”

Shell said November 2023 was when project funding was approved, but work to build a slackwater harbor and other port infrastructure expansion has been underway more than 30 years. Shell said his almost $4 million private investment in the public facility is proof he is convinced it will bring more business to the region.

“The key is that all of this is tied in to (Interstate) 49 and our rail and our other infrastructure,” Shell said. “You know, we’ve talked about it for a generation, and now we’re going to get it complete, and the next generation will be able to use it. I may be dead and gone, but the next generation will enjoy it.”

Work is ongoing to complete the interstate in the Fort Smith metro and south. Officials gathered in August for a ceremonial groundbreaking on the 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 that will include an Arkansas River bridge.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) in October 2024 awarded Tulsa-based Manhattan Road & Bridge a $282.5 million contract to construct the 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 between Highway 22 in Barling and Gun Club Road in Crawford County. The interchange with Arkansas Highway 22 in Barling is already complete, as is a short section of I-49 between Barling and U.S. 71 just south of Fort Smith.

Arkansas highway officials estimated in early 2022 that it would cost $4.1 billion to complete I-49 from Fort Smith to the Texas state line.

Garris said completion of the slackwater harbor is not the end of their work. She said next steps for the WAIA may include investigating options for multimodal and other beneficial port-related infrastructure in the region.