Activity at the southern tip of Sparrows Point these days doesn’t resemble much more than the shuffling of terrain. Piles of slag, ready for reuse, dot the landscape; bargeloads of dredge material scooped from the riverbed head out for disposal some 100 miles away.

In a couple of years, though, the site is expected to represent one of the most consequential projects in recent Port of Baltimore history — with impacts felt both at existing berths and along the East Coast.

Tradepoint Atlantic, the logistics hub owned by billionaire businessman Jim Davis through Redwood Holdings, has expanded rapidly since taking over the old Bethlehem Steel site in 2014. Its next move: partnering with the world’s largest shipping company to build a terminal slated to increase Baltimore’s container capacity by roughly 70%.

“I think this is the most transformative opportunity of a generation,” said Kerry Doyle, Tradepoint’s managing director.

After years of planning — plus the largest tax credit in Baltimore County history — Tradepoint broke ground on the terminal earlier this year. That involves digging out millions of cubic feet of underwater muck, reshaping the water’s edge, and constructing a wharf.

The $1 billion terminal is a joint venture between Tradepoint and Terminal Investment Ltd., a port operator mostly owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, the Italian shipping giant known as MSC.

The terminal is expected to be operational at the end of 2028, when MSC will pick up and drop off boxes there rather than at Seagirt, which is owned by the state. Seagirt is privately operated by Ports America Chesapeake, and its president, Mark Schmidt, said the new container terminal will compete with their business.

Government grants will assist construction of the new terminal “to the detriment of Seagirt,” Schmidt said, reducing state revenues, according to minutes from a December meeting of the state’s port commission.

But Schmidt also said he expects Seagirt to ultimately backfill the lost work. While some boxes will “migrate,” he said in a March press call, there will still be enough to go around.

“We are actively working toward partnerships with other carriers to ensure the growth of Seagirt,” Schmidt said.

Doyle said the new terminal will lock MSC, the port’s top customer, into Baltimore for decades. And he predicted that Seagirt would not only replace its lost MSC business, but generate more in the coming years thanks to the new terminal attracting large customers and the expanded Howard Street Tunnel making rail shipping more efficient.

Jonathan Daniels, the Maryland Port Administration executive director, stressed the importance of advertising those advantages in attracting new lines.

“We need to be able to translate this available space into new business, and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.

The Port of Baltimore has largely bounced back since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse choked off commerce for months in 2024, but not fully. It once ranked as the 9th-busiest port in the country, but is now 11th.

With the addition of the Sparrows Point terminal, Baltimore will increase its container capacity from sixth on the East Coast to third.

“Pun intended, the rising tide is going to lift all boats,” Doyle said.

The new terminal will have two 52-foot-deep berths, enough room for two large container vessels. It’ll be equipped with massive Panamax cranes similar to the ones at Seagirt. This year, a contractor will begin to build those custom cranes, ensuring that they’re ready by 2028.

MSC will represent a bulk of the new terminal’s business, but it will also host other shippers.

Doyle estimated that roughly 50% of the ships would be new lines or ones that previously called on rival East Coast hubs instead.

Tom Caso, project manager for the terminal’s construction, envisions the buildout in three buckets: dredging, wharf construction and building out the landside.

The dredging itself is straightforward. Dumping material, however, is another story.

After considering hundreds of options, Caso said, Tradepoint landed on a plan that includes placing some of the muck on its own land. Other material is bound for an ocean disposal site near Norfolk. The lead dredging contractor, Cashman Dredging, fills barges over the course of several hours — which then must trek two days, round trip, down the Chesapeake Bay and back.

The buildout on land, headed by general contractor Whiting-Turner, isn’t dissimilar to a typical building project: Crews will pour pavement and ensure that the cranes are electrified.

But the wharf effort, led by construction company R.E. Pierson, is the most challenging aspect, Caso said. It requires a delicate balance of building over water and land — and to alter the land itself.

“In some areas, we’ve had to peel the shoreline back,” he said. “In other areas we’ve had to fill the shoreline in a little bit to get that straight line.”