Impact analysis of the Panama Canal expansion on Alabama

The Panama Canal expansion project begins in 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2014. The expansion project will have significant impact the international trade route, freight distribution and U.S maritime and intermodal system. The expected result from the expansion is amount of freight volume will be diverted from the West Coast ports to the East/Gulf Coast ports. The goal of this thesis is to analyze the impact of the Panama Canal expansion on the highway's of Alabama. The analysis uses the Alabama Transportation Infrastructure Model (ATIM) and the Freight Analysis Framework database for computing volume/capacity ratio for several potential growth scenarios. The study concludes that Alabama statewide network does not have significant changing by increased freight volume and the port of Mobile can be attractive facility to new shipping clients.