Major $669M Container Terminal Set to Transform East Coast Shipping

Groundbreaking for $669M East Coast container terminal moves ahead despite legal challenge

Construction is underway on Delaware’s largest maritime infrastructure project: a $669 million container terminal planned for 137 acres of former DuPont industrial property along the Delaware River in Edgemoor.

The Delaware Container Terminal, or DCT, is designed to expand the state’s container-handling capacity and strengthen its position in the Mid-Atlantic freight market. A formal groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled by Sept. 14, while major construction work has already begun on the waterside portions of the project.

Supporters say the terminal will create thousands of jobs, increase tax revenue and provide a new cargo gateway serving Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other markets along the Interstate 95 corridor. The project is scheduled to begin handling containers by late 2028 if construction remains on schedule.

Permits cleared after nearly two-year delay

The project has faced a lengthy permitting process and opposition from competing port interests. In 2024, a court vacated federal permits covering key elements of the terminal, including dredging and seawall work. That decision delayed the project by nearly two years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissued the permits in April 2026, allowing construction to proceed on the waterside infrastructure. The work includes dredging the shipping channel to 45 feet, building a new seawall and high deck, and installing foundations for the terminal’s cargo-handling systems.

Legal challenges have not ended. In July 2026, port companies owned by the Holt family filed another lawsuit challenging the federal permits. The companies operate facilities in Camden and Philadelphia and have raised maritime-safety and environmental concerns about the DCT project.

Enstructure and Delaware officials maintain that the terminal has undergone extensive environmental review. They also say the deeper channel and modern terminal design are intended to improve efficiency and safety on the Delaware River.

Terminal will have direct implications for trucking

DCT is planned as a large-scale container facility with annual capacity of up to 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. The design calls for 2,700 feet of quay, seven ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 26 rubber-tired gantry cranes for moving containers within the yard.

The 45-foot berth is intended to accommodate post-Panamax vessels carrying as many as 16,000 TEUs. The terminal also will include a new truck gate complex, a 100,000-square-foot warehouse and expanded refrigerated-container plug capacity.

For drivers and motor carriers, highway access will be a central part of the terminal’s operating model. The site is positioned near I-495 and I-95, with connections to I-295 and the New Jersey and Pennsylvania turnpikes. Those routes provide access to major freight markets in the Philadelphia region, South Jersey and the broader Mid-Atlantic.

The terminal’s development could also change container flows across the region. DCT will compete with established gateways in the Port of New York and New Jersey, Philadelphia, South Jersey and Baltimore. That competition may affect where shippers route containers and where drayage carriers pick up and deliver freight, although the project’s ultimate cargo volumes will depend on future terminal operations and customer decisions.

DCT is being developed as a public-private partnership between the state-owned Diamond State Port Corp. and Enstructure, which already operates facilities at the nearby Port of Wilmington. Once the project is complete, DCT and the upgraded Wilmington facility are expected to operate under the unified “Port Delaware” brand.

Combined annual capacity for the two facilities is projected to reach as much as 1.6 million TEUs.

Rail and terminal equipment are part of the plan

The project is also being designed to support intermodal freight movements. The Port of Wilmington is served by Norfolk Southern and CSX. Norfolk Southern provides local service from its Edgemoor yard and double-stack connections to major Midwest markets. CSX connects the port with destinations across the Midwest, South and Southeast.

DCT is being marketed as an all-electric container facility. Planned features include electric terminal equipment, shore-power connections that allow vessels to shut down onboard engines while at berth, energy-efficient lighting and energy-efficient buildings.

The terminal is expected to be built in phases. The first waterside phase is targeted for completion by the end of 2028, with operations initially running at about 40% of the terminal’s eventual 1.2 million-TEU capacity. Additional cranes, yard equipment and backland infrastructure would be added as cargo volumes grow.

Economic claims and regional competition

State and industry estimates project that construction could generate roughly 3,900 to 4,000 jobs and about $42 million in state and local tax revenue during the buildout. At full operation, the broader Port Delaware system is projected to support approximately 11,480 jobs and generate about $76.2 million annually in state and local taxes.

Officials also estimate that the terminal itself could create nearly 6,000 jobs once fully operational, including positions for longshore workers, equipment operators, warehouse employees and other logistics workers.

Opponents argue that a major new terminal so close to existing facilities could divide cargo volumes and add pressure to the Delaware River’s navigation system. The latest lawsuit will proceed as construction moves forward, leaving the project to advance while its federal permits remain under challenge.