A barge in the distance travels along the Tennessee River. (felixmizioznikov/Getty Images)
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced a $12.85 million plan to upgrade the public Yellow Creek State Inland Port in northeastern Iuka to bolster multimodal freight and improve the state economy.
“This investment is a vital step in modernizing our port infrastructure and ensuring that Mississippi remains competitive in the global marketplace,” Reeves said March 26. “By renovating and expanding a key inland port, we are not only doubling its operational capacity but also reducing shipping costs and increasing efficiency — benefiting local businesses, creating jobs, and further solidifying Mississippi’s economic future.”
Offering a cost-effective shipping gateway to the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), the public port sits near the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee Waterway.
The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a designated national marine highway that traverses north-south through eastern Mississippi. This marine highway system is used to transport about 2 million tons of goods annually. It connects the Tombigbee River with the Tennessee River to form a water transportation route that serves 23 Southern and Midwestern states from the Port of Mobile northward.
Currently, the multimodal port has barge, truck and rail transfer facilities. It serves standard hopper and large deck barges as well as tanker barges transporting petroleum products. It is located 15 miles from both U.S. Route 45 and U.S. Route 72. Other highway access is available through Interstate 22/U.S. Route 78 (60 miles away) and I-40 (75 miles).
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“By investing in our port infrastructure, we are setting the stage for a new era of economic transformation in Mississippi and the entire Appalachian Region,” Reeves said. “This project exemplifies our commitment to creating resilient, future-ready infrastructure that drives job growth and attracts new investment.”
The port terminal handles commodities such as steel coils, steel plates, large fabricated steel items, steel pipes, coal, silicon, I-beams, pig iron and steel rods.
Revenue to revitalize Yellow Creek State Inland Port, which opened in 1974, is derived from a patchwork of funds. The largest investment ($9 million) will be contributed from an Appalachian Regional Commission fund and will be matched by $2.5 million from the state transportation department’s Mississippi State Multimodal Infrastructure Fund. The Yellow Creek State Port Authority is providing the remaining $1.35 million.
Renovations include improving an existing 400-foot transload dock and extending it by 212 feet to handle increased loads.
Construction also will involve installing four mooring cells and rail modifications to streamline intermodal transfers across water, rail and truck networks. Concrete pavement will be modernized to handle greater freight tonnage loads. The port will add a 700-ton material handling crane to double its current lift capacity, which will significantly improve barge processing times.
The Yellow Creek port occupies 400 acres but has 2,500 acres of developable land. It is the state’s only other public port besides the Port of Gulfport.
