While other U.S. ports, especially those on the West Coast, are planning for reduced volumes in reaction to the global economic slowdown, the Port of Houston and the nearby ports of Galveston and Freeport are looking at expansion plans.

Expansion is warranted, due in part to the strong economic climate in Texas, especially in the energy and project engineering sectors. And any port expansion will dovetail nicely with the expansion of the Panama Canal.

The Port of Houston Authority and the Galveston Wharves Board are jointly studying the feasibility of developing new container terminals on Galveston’s Pelican Island.

Houston is the giant of the gulf container market, handling approximately two-thirds of all containerized volume at ports between Texas and Florida. Having weathered the recent ravages of Hurricane Ike, it continues to expand its new Bayport container facility in phases. When fully developed, the terminal will have seven container berths with a capacity of 2.3 million TEUs, a 378-acre container yard and a 123-acre intermodal rail facility.

This is all good news for BDP International and its wholly owned subsidiary, BDP Project Logistics.

When Dennis Devlin, director of global projects and energy at BDP Project Logistics, was asked to relocate to Houston in 2002 s director of Houston operations and projects, the office comprised of about 25 people.

"As the saying here goes, everything in Texas is BIG," Devlin said, “Now, with approximately 250 full-time workers, the change is immense." BDP’s Houston team is now the company’s second-largest operation, globally, in terms of personnel.

As many areas of the U.S. experience an economic slowdown, Houston is one market where business continues to grow, thanks to the very robust energy and international engineering and construction project markets, Devlin said. Both markets, which are clearly related, are busy, due in large part to the recent high market levels in oil and commodities such as metals.

"This has resulted in precedented high levels of investment in both the energy sector - which includes not only new energy projects but also normal drilling operations - and the project engineering market," Devlin said.