A major port improvement program in Long Beach, Calif., is struggling in stormy waters amid personnel upheavals and the recent repeal of a cargo fee meant to help fund more than $4 billion in road, rail, environmental and dredging construction projects.
Scores of contractors are in the midst of billions of dollars' worth of work, including the new Gerald Desmond Bridge on which site-prep complications added $136 million to its $1-billion price tag. Also, the $1.2-billion Middle Harbor project estimate recently climbed by another $85 million.