Highlights: Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
This past June, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority dedicated and named two new Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes. The cranes, named Spike and Muddy, after local baseball and hockey team mascots, are twice as productive as current equipment and will be used to handle bulk, break bulk, project cargo and containers. They are the only twin cranes of this type in operation at any U.S Great Lakes Port. Spike and Muddy are also more fuel-efficient, using only 25% of the fuel expended by the existing cranes. Each crane stands more than 140 feet and weighs more than 240 tons. The total foot print is close to 1300 square feet and each crane can turn up to 1000 tons per hour. Both cranes can also work in tandem to increase maximum lift capacity.
Five new wide-span cranes arrived at Midwest Terminals of Toledo in June as well. These ultra efficient cranes are headed to the new Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal, being built within CSX Intermodal’s network in North Baltimore, Ohio – less than 40 miles from the Port of Toledo. The five wide span cranes will reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency and reduce emissions at the Northwest Ohio Terminal Facility.
Also in the month of June, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority and the Great Lakes Historical Society entered into an agreement to work collaboratively to create the National Great Lakes Maritime Museum. The agreement included partnering with the Willis B. Boyer Museum Ship. The ship will be restored as her original namesake – the Col. James M. Schoonmaker – and relocated to the riverfront adjacent to the museum structure. Development of the museum is planned to begin next spring and open for the inaugural season in the spring of 2012. The goal over the next decade is to expand the facility to accommodate research activities, attract travelling exhibits and broaden educational programming.
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