New Heavy Lift Dock
January 8, 2008
Industrial Terminals Completes New Heavy Lift Dock
Industrial Terminals in Houston has recently completed a new deep water dock for project and heavy lift vessels. Designed to the heaviest load standards of any facility in the region, the dock features two gantry mounted cranes, direct shipside rail access and is capable of handling vessels 550 feet long and drafts up to 33 feet.
This new facility, to be named the Kavanagh Dock in memory of Intermarine’s founder Roger Kavanagh, meets to perfection the needs of Intermarine’s project services. The 400 feet length of actual dock or apron space is ideally suited to handle Intermarine’s C, D and soon to come E class vessels that have overall lengths of 400 to 460 feet. The dock length is also adequate for the working of three gangs on one ship, which improves turnaround time and schedule integrity.
To handle heavy lift cargo, the dock has been engineered to support a sustained, overall load of 1,000 pounds per square foot. This is equal to the highest rated docks in the port of Houston and ten times the load capacity of modern interstate highways. But most importantly, the new heavy lift dock has direct rail access engineered for load factors that exceed current rail industry standards and turning radii that can accommodate the largest heavy lift railcars. In connecting the dock to the PTRA rail service, the terminal laid about a half mile of new track including a new siding.
“Direct rail access for heavy lift cargoes has been a goal for quite some time,” commented Darce Kullman, General Manager of Industrial Terminals. “With this capability, the cargoes are subject to fewer handlings, which reduce damage potential, and our clients can save literally thousands of dollars in reduced handling costs.”
“Overall, the addition of the Kavanagh Dock allows the facility to work three large project cargo vessels simultaneously,” continued Kullman. “This, combined with the ability of our terminal operator Gulf Stream Marine to provide labor on a 24 - 7 basis, makes Industrial Terminals the most productive project cargo facility in the region.”
Industrial Terminals, located on the Houston ship channel, is the largest project cargo terminal in the United States and the primary loadcenter for all Intermarine’s North American services.