Port of Duluth-Superior gets $27 million for infrastructure upgrades

The Port of Duluth-Superior landed $27 million in federal money to rebuild dock walls, clear aging grain infrastructure and add room for freight handling, a package that could make the Northland’s busiest industrial gateway more reliable for employers, shippers and workers across St. Louis County.

The award came through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Program and was paired with $8.4 million in state and local matching funds. Together, the financing gives the port a $35.4 million investment aimed at keeping bulk cargo moving through Duluth’s working waterfront and strengthening the supply chain that ties northern Minnesota to the Great Lakes system.

The project centers on a 7.5-acre pier complex. The Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s application described the work as the 2024 Duluth Port Intermodal Terminal Expansion Project, with three main pieces: reconstruction of 625 linear feet of Berth 11 dock at the Clure Public Marine Terminal, demolition of former grain elevators and installation of utilities at the Duluth Lake Port facility, and reconstruction of 1,175 linear feet of dock wall with 7.5 acres of new laydown space. Stauber’s office said the plan also includes removing out-of-service grain elevators and installing utilities for future redevelopment.

That matters because the Port of Duluth-Superior is not a niche facility. The port authority says it moves an average of 33 million short tons of bulk material each year, including about 20 million tons of iron ore and more than 1 million tons of grain during a shipping season. The authority has called the port a backbone of the regional economy for more than 150 years, with the most recent economic-impact update published in 2024 using 2022 data.

The timing also points to pressure already on the harbor. The port reported 31,753,174 short tons in the 2023 season and 30,383,319 short tons in 2024. Traffic then fell to 25.3 million short tons in the 2025 season, which ended Jan. 15, 2026 after a 301-day navigation season. New infrastructure could help the port handle heavier or more specialized traffic at a time when trade headwinds are weighing on volumes.

The grant also adds to an unusually large wave of transportation spending in the Duluth-Superior corridor. In March, the federal government announced more than $1.05 billion to replace the Blatnik Bridge, underscoring how much of the harbor area is being asked to carry the region’s future growth.