THE US Port of Long Beach plans to invest up to US$3 billion on improvement projects over the coming decade, in a bid to ward off increasing competition from traditional rivals on the west coast, Canada, Mexico as well as the US east coast.

The Panama Canal expansion will allow the largest containerships from Asia to travel direct to gulf and east coast ports, warned Richard Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach in his recent "2010: State of the Port" speech.

"Today's reality is that our customers are shopping around, and other seaports are vying aggressively for their business," said Mr Steinke. "We need to develop our infrastructure to move cargo more efficiently and reliably if we are to continue to support the economy and create new jobs.

Mr Steinke said that together these improvement projects are expected to generate nearly 50,000 new, permanent jobs in southern California, as well as thousands of temporary construction jobs.

Long Beach will roll out its next two milestone projects this year, namely, the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project and the Pier S development project.

Port authorities are proposing a US$1.1 billion project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge, which is more than 40 years old, to improve traffic flow and increase safety. Construction of a replacement bridge will provide up to a $2.8 billion economic boost to the region, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, he said. It will also support, on average, 4,000 jobs a year for five years of construction.