Texas Business Profile - Market Access

  Marketwise, this is the place to be. Bounded by Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico, the forests of East Texas, Houston and Austin, this is land of plentiful opportunity. Within a 500-mile radius approximately an eight-hour-drive - are 17 major metropolitan areas in eight states, plus Mexico. About 34 million people live within 500 miles of the center of the service area (Conroe) and approximately 1.2 million people live right in our area and they spend over $10.6 billion in retail sales annually. There’s a good existing market here and we’re located right for easy access to the emerging U.S. southern market. Many markets can be reached within 1-2 days trucking time.

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Interstate 10 extends across the southern part of the area; modern Interstate 45 and U.S. 59 go to northern markets. As for rail, Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific and Burlington North Santa Fe span the region. Over 50 common motor carriers and specialized trucking companies serve the area and provide nationwide access.

We are next door to the Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and its daily departures to the world’s major cities. Airports in Jefferson County and College Station offer daily scheduled flights and connecting service to major airports.

Transportation
The Entergy Texas service area contains a network of highways and railways, 3 major ports, 4 shallow draft ports, several airports and easy access to Houston and Galveston. Direct access to Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas and other major U.S. cities is provided by the area's transportation resources.

Highways
An excellent highway system links the area to the U.S. market. Interstate 10, the nation's transcontinental highway from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, runs through the service area. Beaumont and Orange are directly on the I-10 corridor. Interstate 45 runs north through Conroe, The Woodlands, and Huntsville. Other highways serve the region.

Railroad
Three major railroads service the Entergy Texas area: Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Additionally, Rock Island serves Conroe/The Woodlands. Piggyback service is also available.

Ports
The area contains valuable transportation assets with its 3 major ports, 3 shallow draft feeder ports and several rivers. The 1,000 mile intracoastal waterway runs through the heart of the service area, providing an important link in national and international trade.

Port of Beaumont
Situated 84 miles east of Houston and 272 miles west of New Orleans, the Port of Beaumont is accessible from the Gulf of Mexico and the intracoastal waterway via the federally maintained Sabine-Neches River Channel, 42 miles upstream from the Gulf. Beaumont's Neches River deep-water ship channel is maintained by the Corps of Engineers at a minimum depth of 40 feet and width of 400 feet. Air draft is 136 feet. The port, at the foot of Main Street, handles bulk and general cargo in its facilities. The port maintains complete facilities to handle a variety of cargo, including but not limited to forest products, grains, project cargo, military, goods, aggregate, bulk liquid, and bulk container.

A total of 6,088 linear feet of harbor front, with eight ship berths afford wide concrete aprons and constant minimum water depth of 36 to 40 feet at mean low tide at the face of all docks.

Covering 8 acres, Wharves 1, 2, 3 and a 600 foot berth at Harbor Island provide open berths for cargo not requiring covered storage at shipside.

Wharves 2 and 3 are 758 feet in length, with a 75-foot-wide RO-RO platform at one end. Wharf 4 includes a 57,730 sq. ft. transit shed. Wharves 4, 5, 6, 7 Harbor Island and Carroll Street are flanked by transit sheds that offer 500,0000 square feet of modern, fireproof warehouse space. An additional 36 acres of open storage adjacent to waterfront property is suitable for marshaling containers or other cargo not requiring protection from weather. More than 50 acres of unimproved land adjacent to the waterfront property, is suitable for storage of machinery and equipment.

The port offers a 220 ton capacity mobile crane and gantry crane, ‘Big Clyde’, which has a 60-ton capacity traveling 700 feet along the aprons of Wharves 2 and 3. Its 100 foot boom with 10 foot whip extension rotates 360 degrees.

Barge mounted ‘Big Bessie’, owned by Trinity Industries, offers 500 ton capacity.

Port of Orange
Orange's Sabine River ship channel is maintained by the Corps of Engineers at a minimum depth of 30 feet and width of 200 feet. The Port of Orange, at the foot of Childers Road, handles bulk and general cargo in its facilities. Four deep-sea vessels can be accommodated along the 2300 feet of mooring space with an additional berthing space in the slip for four additional vessels. Forty feet wide, reinforced concrete dock aprons are adjacent to transit sheds which are weather and vermin proof. Warehouses have passed stringent standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

All warehouses are served by rail allowing 60 cars to be unloaded simultaneously. Eight sheds, ranging from 27,000 to 90,000 square feet, provide a total of over 354,000 square feet of available warehouse facilities protected with automatic overhead sprinklers, and equipped with chemical extinguishers, water hydrants, and municipal fire protection. Rail service is provided by Union Pacific Railroad, Sabine River, and BNSF Distance via the Intracostal Waterway:

Port of Port Arthur
The Port of Port Arthur is an international ocean port operated by an elected commission. The Public Ocean Terminal is located on a deep-water channel only 19 miles from the sea and on the 1,200-mile Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. A fully-loaded vessel can be in from the Gulf in under two hours. The port has  five docks, a 75-ton gantry crane for breakbulk, direct rail service with an apron track capacity for 120 cars and harbor frontage on 3360 feet . The Port is connected to KCS and UP railroads.

Air
The George Bush Intercontinental Airport offers frequent direct flights to national and international cities. The South East TX Regional Airport provides connecting service to Houston. Fifteen general aviation airports serve the smaller communities. 

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