Boeing shipments and cement are the only things keeping the Port of Everett in business right now, CEO Lisa Lefeber told U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen during a July 24 tour of Pier 3.
Trade tariffs have pushed the port into one of its slowest shipping seasons in decades, she said, with cargo traffic shifting to Gulf Coast ports.
The tour highlighted an $11.25 million federal grant awarded to the port in April through the Port Infrastructure Development Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.
The money will fund a structural overhaul of Pier 3, the port's longest berth at 730 feet long and 120 feet wide, built in 1973.
"We're basically being kept in business by Boeing and cement," Lefeber said during the tour. "And because we're [an] operating port, we have really high cost of fixed labor that we have to pay whether we have one shift or 22,000 shifts. So, it's been really challenging to manage through it."
What the project fixes
Decades of structural deterioration have cut Pier 3's load capacity from its original 800 pounds per square foot to 600 on the south side, 400 on the north side, and even less in some areas. Heavy cargo equipment can no longer safely operate on parts of the pier.
The grant will pay for new vertical support piles beneath the pier and repairs to damaged piles. Once complete, Lefeber said, nearly every section of the facility will handle between 800 and 1,000 pounds per square foot.
She described the work as the first phase of a four-part plan to bring the entire dock into compliance.
Nick Hoekendorf with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said the project "is going to restore cargo operations. It's critical and we couldn't have done it without the federal funding."
Who it affects
Pier 3 serves bulk cement operations tied to the port's 55,000-ton dry bulk cement storage dome, a supply-chain asset for Washington's construction industry.
The north side supports ship repair for the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, Coast Guard, Washington State Ferries, and commercial fishing vessels.
The Port of Everett is one of 18 Strategic Commercial Seaports designated by the Maritime Administration, and one of only five on the West Coast, meaning it must maintain the ability to support military operations alongside commercial shipping.
Larsen, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the grant was funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The port's regional transportation network supports more than 40,000 jobs and $433 million in state and local tax revenue, according to a 2023 port economic impact report.
What's next
The port's next major infrastructure priority is rebuilding the aging Norton Dock, replacing it with two 1,200-foot roll-on/roll-off docks. Lefeber estimated a full reconstruction at roughly $80 million. No timeline or funding source for that project has been announced.
The Pier 3 grant covers planning, engineering, environmental review, permitting, and construction, but the port has not released a construction start date.
