The effort to increase capacity at the Port of New York and New Jersey has received a boost.

Bayonne Bridge
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An $11.4 million grant has been awarded for a new facility outside the Bayonne Bridge that will be able to directly transfer containers from the terminal onto the national rail network.

The grant was announced Friday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has committed more than $100 million to the project. The completed facility will be able to handle 250,000 containers per year.

Separate projects to raise the height of the Bayonne Bridge roadway and deepen the harbor will allow the port to receive larger cargo ships that will be using the Panama Canal once a canal expansion project is completed in 2014.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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