August 23 - A total refurbishment and transplant of advanced materials handling technology into the 200-tonne capacity crane at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa will help this inland US port continue to serve its existing users cost-efficiently while introducing
The Oklahoma Port is a major road, rail, and river intermodal shipping complex, served by a multi-hoist 200-tonne capacity bridge crane, which has been stripped and renovated by Whiting Corporation as part of a USD11.7 million investment in new port facilities, including a new 720-tonne dock on which the crane is located and 6,000 ft (1,829 m) of new railway lines.
The double girder refurbished crane has a 100 ft (30.4 m) span and features two trolleys that each have a main and auxiliary hoist.
Freight moves through the port using barge, rail and truck, often in combination and shippers can load barges directly onto rail or truck, or trans-load between truck and rail, creating an effective logistics operation for companies moving containers, breakbulk and large manufactured items of project cargo.
A public dock operated by the port authority permits the transfer of overdimensional or overweight project cargoes such as giant processing equipment used in refineries. Loads exceeding 600 tonnes can be driven directly onto and off ocean-going flat-deck barges using rail cars, trucks or wheeled transporters.
The port says that high-value fabricated pieces of project cargo make excellent candidates for barge transport, with international shipments typically transloaded to or from ocean vessels at the Port of New Orleans or the Port of Houston. Such shipments are often restricted by weight or cubic dimension from moving on trucks or rail, said the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.
Refurbishment of the crane was preferred to building a new one because of the time and expense involved in constructing a totally new crane with all the features and versatility already contained within the structure of the original purpose-built crane.
