Granite Construction began building a 20-acre asphalt plant at the Port of Woodland's Martin's Bar South industrial site along the Columbia River, thereflector.com reported.
Granite plans to truck in rocks and other asphalt material at first, but Port Commissioner Bob Wile said the company eventually plans to seek state approval to bring in materials by barge. That would make the plant the first in the port's 66-year history to use its deepwater access.
That would make the plant the first at the 66-year-old port to use its deepwater access.
The new plant is replacing a plant in Vancouver, Wash., Granite spokesman Steve Hitzel told thereflector.com.
Publicly traded Granite is leasing from the port a 25-acre strip of land between the Columbia River and Dike Road west of the Woodland Bottoms.
Hitzel, who is leading the project for Granite, said the new site will enable the company to bid on more projects in the Longview area.
"Our main base of operations is over in (east Vancouver)," he told thereflector.com. "And with all the redevelopment and such going on there, our lease ending here a couple months ago, we've been looking for a new place for our asphalt plant."
Granite signed in 2024 an 80-year lease in Woodland, said Chris Herman, executive director of the Port of Woodland. It celebrated the groundbreaking of the $5 to $10 million project in January 2026
Hitzel said Granite plans to have the new plant operational by spring.
"The strategy here was we'd really only be out of commission during our offseason," he told thereflector.com. "Really depends on the weather with making asphalt, but usually in the winter when it's wet, colder, we're not making as much."
Hitzel said its Southwest Clean Air Agency permits would allow Granite to produce 400,000 tons of asphalt annually, even if they only do half that in a "really good year."
Hitzel didn't provide details on local tax implications or the number of jobs the project would create, although an average day of paving might take approximately 40 workers, according to thereflector.com.
Herman said Granite would pave Dike Access Road before operations begin.
"We're just looking forward to a long-term relationship here with the Port of Woodland and Woodland in general," Hitzel told thereflector.com. "We're pretty excited for it. It's a big investment for our company, and we're looking forward to continuing some partnerships that we've started there."
