A two-year, $1.6-million overhaul of the Port Authority’s two gantry cranes — in service at the Clure Public Marine Terminal since 1959 — is complete.
These two units are the workhorses of the terminal, the primary means for loading and unloading cargo from the vessels that call here.
As the cranes reached the midcentury mark, operators began to notice some problems with controls, and down time for maintenance time began to increase.
Now, though, the cranes are what Jim Sharrow, the Port’s facilities manager, calls “as good as new — or better than new.”
The cranes now have a new electric supply, rewiring, electronic controls, switch gears — and air conditioned cabs.
The 90-ton cranes were built by Duluth’s own Clyde Iron Works. The overhaul was designed by Krech Ojard Associates and completed by Lakehead Constructors.
The cranes are operated by Lake Superior Warehousing, Inc. “Owners who have their own unloading gear, expecting to use that to unload their ship, use ours instead when they see the efficiency of our cranes,” said Gary Nicholson, president of Lake Superior Warehousing.
The final touches of the overhaul included spiffy new paint jobs, with more contemporary logos.
And now the cranes are good to go for another half-century.
The Port of Duluth-Superior gained 5.5 much-needed acres for storage last fall with the completion of work on the new Berths 5 & 6.
The project included removing 8,000 yards of sand, compressing and sloping and draining the space, covering it with a heavy-duty fabric and then covering it all with a foot of limestone — 18,000 tons, or 12,000 yards of limestone.
Facilities manager Jim Sharrow reported that the space was “filled even before the job was completed.”
Northern Plains Railroad
Gregg Haug, president of Northern Plains Railroad, hosted the grand opening of its headquarters office recently in Duluth. Northern Plains was formed in January 1997. The railroad specializes in small grains, aggregates and fertilizer.
Toronto Marine Club
The Annual Marine Club dinner was held in Toronto on January 18. The event provides the Great Lakes with an excellent opportunity to network and hold ancillary meetings. The Highway H20 members gathered to review coming promotional activities.
Legislators visit the Port
As part of a Minnesota Borders Tour, five legislators received a briefing by Port Authority personnel, went on board the Edwin H. Gott to observe winter maintenance, toured the Clure Public Marine Terminal and participated in discussions focusing on issues relating to clearing passengers on cruise vessels in Duluth and other U.S. Great Lakes ports.
Oberstar Dinner
On January 25, maritime leaders met with Congressman James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss maritime issues and to hear first-hand from the congressman an outline of Great Lakes legislative initiatives that he has undertaken.
Cargill elevator sold
Minnesota-based Cargill, Inc., has sold its Duluth grain storage and export facility to Whitebox Advisors LLC; the facility will be known as WB Duluth Storage LLC.
This is Duluth’s largest grain elevator, which includes both silo and flat storage on a 60-acre, two-slip site.
Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton of the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) made a January stop at the Port of Duluth-Superior to meet with regional maritime leaders.
While here, Mr. Connaughton spoke on Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system infrastructure topics at the Midwest Energy Resources Company (MERC) coal terminal in Superior, where he noted the company’s multi-million dollar replacement project of its rotary railcar unloader barrel.
MERC provides for the low sulfur western coal transshipment needs of the Detroit Edison Company power plants in southeastern Michigan, as well as for the western coal transshipment needs of 18 additional electric utilities and industrial firms throughout the Great Lakes and Canadian Maritimes regions. The state-of-the-art transshipment terminal incorporates the economic advantages of transport by unit trains and Great Lakes vessels.
The replacement barrel — or “dumper” — is the heart of MERC’s automatic railcar unloading system, which locks railcars into position and then rotates them 160 degrees to discharge the coal onto the terminal’s conveyor systems.
This was the second dumper replacement since MERC began operations in 1976. While the original dumper saw the throughput of 135 million tons of coal before being replaced in the winter of 1994-95, the dumper that was just replaced handled 230 million tons of coal — nearly double the tonnage in approximately half the time — representing the considerable growth that MERC has experienced. The new railcar unloader barrel will likely see more than 400 million tons of throughput before needing replacement.
“This replacement of our railcar unloader barrel reaffirms our commitment to providing for the coal needs of our customers well into the future,” said Fred Shusterich, president of MERC.
Midwest Energy Resources Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Detroit Edison Company.
Above:
Workers install new railcar unloader barrel.
Left:
From left, Jim Sharrow, the Port Authority’s facilities manager; Sean Connaughton, MARAD administrator; and Fred Shusterich, MERC president.