If you look closely, you can see the turbine blade, hauled up by the crane for placement on a railcar. The Port of Longview is one of the only ports that offer railcar transport at the dock.
This week, the Port of Longview discharged the longest wind-turbine blades since beginning to handle wind cargo in 2003. The Port safely managed wind blades for Vestas, using both of the Port’s mobile harbor cranes, on-dock rail, and first-rate ILWU Local 21 labor.
Using two Liebherr cranes in tandem, the 54-meter blades were lifted off of the vessel and placed onto railcars running along the Port’s on-dock rail system. ILWU labor secured the blades to specialized swiveling bases to ensure they were locked into place, but still able to rotate with each turn along the rail line to their final destination in Illinois.
“Operations like these require a lot of attention to detail and strategizing to ensure that it is efficient and cost effective for both the Port and the customer,” said the Senior Terminal Superintendent, Larry Landgraver. “Successfully completing these technical operations time and time again can be credited to strategic investments in infrastructure, as well as our partnership ILWU labor.”
The blades were discharged directly to railcars, an operation only performed by the Port of Longview on the west coast. The Port has similar operations in the near future that use on-dock rail and both mobile harbor cranes.
Filed Under: Blades, News, Safety
