The Water Transportation Advisory Board (WTAB) of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) met June 24, 2024 to review applications for grant programs offered to riverports by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. New for this fiscal year are funds available through the Kentucky Public Riverport Construction and Maintenance Program (KPRCM). The KPRCM was established to provide grants to public riverport authorities for qualified construction and maintenance projects with the goal of maximizing the economic attractiveness of water transportation.
The Henderson County Riverport was selected for funding through this program and will be utilizing the awarded funds towards the purchase of a new electric material handler that will operate on its second dock. A grain conveyor system currently operates on the dock but is slated to be removed in fall 2024. The removal of this conveyor system allows the Riverport the opportunity to utilize this dock as a designated space for loading and unloading bulk products such as fertilizer, aggregates, grains, and scrap metal. The new material handler will load and unload these products exclusively while the main dock at the Riverport will continue to be serviced by our 125-ton cable crane and will unload and load barges of steel wire rod, aluminum, zinc, other break bulk, as well as heavy lifts. With both docks available for utilization, the Riverport will be able to unload barges quicker and more efficiently.