An artificial island built off the coast of Melbourne's sewerage plant is one of two options being considered for Victoria's second container port.
The proposed Bay West port could be built on a reclaimed island created 1.5km off the shore of the Western Treatment Plant.
An Infrastructure Victoria discussion paper proposes a quay running for more than a kilometre parallel to the Port Phillip Bay coast.
A rail bridge on the northern edge would connect the island to land while distribution centres would sit more than 10km inland.
The agency also presented a port in Hastings, southeast of Melbourne, as an option, but wouldn't say which one it was leaning towards.
"You certainly don't judge a match by the score at half-time," Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Michel Masson told reporters.
"There is another (public) consultation and a lot more work we need to do."
Hastings has been used for port-related activities since the early 20th century but does not currently handle container trade.
Both the Bay West and Hastings projects are estimated to cost between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, and reach an annual capacity of three million containers - slightly more than the current throughput of the existing Port of Melbourne.
But the report says future upgrades of the Bay West island facility would be much cheaper than at Hastings.
The agency says the Port of Melbourne, leased last year for $9.7 billion, is not expected to reach its capacity of about five million units "for decades".
Though upgrades at that site are possible, Treasurer Tim Pallas told reporters there is a good economic case to start planning for a second port for the decades to come.
The four-week public consultation period will run until April 3.
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