Port of Everett's pier for 787 now just backup

The Port of Everett's new 900-foot-long pier was dangled in front of Boeing several years ago as an incentive to keep production of the company's new 787 Dreamliner from moving out of state.

Now the barge-to-rail transport facility is close to completion near Mukilteo, but Boeing won't be using it to receive large parts for the 787, the first of which is scheduled to roll out July 8.

The company opted early on to fly in parts from suppliers around the world, using modified 747s called Dreamlifters. As a result, the newly named Mount Baker Terminal has become in part a $30.6 million "insurance policy" — a backup for Boeing in case anything happens to one of its Dreamlifters.

"We don't necessarily know if we'll ever use it [for the 787]," said Boeing spokeswoman Mary Hanson.

That doesn't mean the terminal will sit idle, though. Boeing and other aerospace suppliers and companies plan to use it when it's finished in December.

Boeing says it will use the terminal to receive oversize parts for other airplanes.

And Boeing and other users will help repay the costs of the terminal's construction in user fees over the next several years.

"Our anticipation is that in two or three years, we'll see five-day-a-week delivery at the terminal," said John Mohr, Port of Everett executive director.

In 2003, when Boeing announced it was looking around the country for places to build its new airplane, state legislators panicked. They desperately wanted to hold on to production of the airplane, along with its jobs and other economic benefits.

The terminal became part of the incentive package to keep Boeing from looking around, and the state chipped in $15.5 million toward its construction. At a groundbreaking ceremony in 2005, it was heralded as an economic boon to Washington by Gov. Christine Gregoire and other officials.

From the start, Boeing knew that flying in parts for the 787 was more cost-effective and efficient than waiting up to a month for shipments across the ocean, said Hanson.

But the Port said it already was planning to build the barge-to-rail terminal anyway.

Boeing's need for a backup facility and the state's cash infusion sped up the process, said Mohr.

"The facility was already under design prior to the 787 being announced," Mohr said.

The Mount Baker Terminal will free up traffic on the BNSF Railway line. When oversize parts are delivered from a downtown Everett terminal, the railway line — also used by Sound Transit commuter trains and Amtrak — currently has to be closed for about two hours.

With the new terminal, such rail-line shutdowns will have to last only about 15 minutes because the transportation time to Paine Field next to Boeing's Everett plant is shorter, said Port of Everett spokeswoman Lisa Mandt.

The first phase of the terminal project was completed in 2006, and the Port is waiting for a crane to be constructed and delivered before the facility will open.

The project originally was scheduled to be finished in time for the 787 rollout but was delayed a year because the Port was working with Boeing on specifications for the crane.

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 425-745-7807 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com