Ports of Indiana has been awarded a $25 million federal “BUILD” grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to support a $32 million expansion of its Jeffersonville port. This grant is the largest federal award in Ports of Indiana’s 65-year history.

The BUILD program (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) is administered by USDOT to provide grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impact. This week, USDOT awarded $1.73 billion in BUILD grants to 127 projects from 1,200 applications.

The Jeffersonville grant will fund a redevelopment of an underutilized area along the Ohio River into a high-volume multimodal terminal. The project includes a new 300-ton crane system, a 6,500-square-foot dock, and a 22,000-square-foot warehouse designed to improve operational efficiency and expand heavy-lift and breakbulk capabilities.

Once complete, the expansion will increase lift capacity by more than 800%, double barge-rail transloading capacity, and establish the port’s first general cargo facility located outside the floodplain. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.