The first greenfield shipyard to be built in the U.S. since World War II has broken ground. That's a sentence you don't read every decade.
A joint venture of JE Dunn and Alberici began construction on the initial phases of military contractor Saronic’s Port Alpha, an over $3.2 billion shipyard. The shipyard, located at the Port of Brownsville in Texas, will spread across an initially 835-acre site, per the announcement.
I read the size as a signal, not just a project.
The contract features three overlapping phases, according to the JV. JE Dunn and Alberici worked with design partners Stantec and KPFF via the progressive design-build delivery method, per the announcement. Scott Shelby, vice president at JE Dunn and program leader for the JV, told Construction Dive via email that the approach allows the team to develop and evaluate the design, scope and cost before agreeing to the final construction price.
Shelby said the collaboration helps determine which portions of the work can advance while other requirements are being resolved.
Alberici announced in 2025 that the team won a $300 million expansion of Saronic’s shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana. A repeat client and a tenfold jump in scale suggest defense shipbuilding is entering a new capital cycle.
I'd watch which contractors follow them to the waterfront.