"We had been operating our Barbour's Cut facility at 150% ofcapacity," Houston port chairman James T. Edmonds says. "We thoughtwhen we opened Bayport it would solve the problem, but less thanhalf a year later, Barbour's Cut is back at more than 100% ofcapacity. We need more room."

According to Edmonds, container shipping at the port has beengrowing at 12% to 13% annually, with no slowing in sight. "We reada lot of literature that predicts huge growth in global containershipping," he says. "We probably can't build fast enough to keepup. It looks like we'll have to start a third wharf when this one'sdone."

Studies conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute at TexasA&M University in College Station predict a continued worldwidecontainer growth rate of 7.2% through 2010. The study estimatesannual growth rates as high as 13% along the Gulf of Mexico.