A Tale of Two Cranes

On August 18, the Port of South Louisiana officially dedicated and named its two newest Konecranes 

Gottwald Model 6 Portal Harbor Cranes for its public facility, the Globalplex Intermodal Terminal Dock along the Mississippi River. These cranes have increased the Port’s capacity for handling 

bulk materials and will allow for the handling of containers and project cargo. 

As the nation’s leading grain exporter and one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest tonnage ports, the Port of South Louisiana is a sea gateway for international trade and commerce. To accommodate for increased throughput tonnage and the need for efficiency, the Port saw the need for new, updated equipment at its Globalplex facility, located in Reserve, Louisiana and on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

“These investments that have been made in the infrastructure at the Port of South Louisiana are not only increasing productivity and efficiencies here at the Port, but they are also creating indirect jobs for Louisiana families,” says Executive Director Paul Matthews. “Today we are making it clear that we will continue to make these investments in our infrastructure so that we can get the goods that families and businesses depend on every day, especially during these challenging times with supply chain issues.”

The two new cranes, named The Iris and The Cypress, have a maximum lifting capacity of 125 tons. These flexible machines offer the potential for continuous-duty bulk material handling or heavy project cargo, but they also include a boom-top cable reel to operate electric spreaders for container handling. Included are smart crane features such as cargo-hold totalizer, hoisting-height and working-range assistants. Further, web reporting and remote desktop control utilize the latest technology that add ergonomics, efficiency and safety to crane operation and performance.

These features, and the Port’s overall investment, are already proving beneficial. Since receiving the cranes and beginning operation, the Port’s discharge rate has nearly doubled, as the cranes are not only higher capacity and more efficient, but they are also more dependable and result in less downtime during the offloading process.

The purchase of the $12.6 million cranes was funded in part (90%) by $11.4 million from LA DOTD’s Port Construction and Development Priority Program, which provides landside facilities with funding to expand infrastructure and stimulate economic growth and job creation.

“There is no investment our state can make that has a bigger return than investing in our ports,” says Renee Lapeyrolerie, Commissioner of the Office of Multimodal Commerce at Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development. “The Port of South Louisiana is literally feeding and fueling the world and our department is proud to have collaborated with the River Region’s legislative delegation and Port officials to make this project a reality.”

The acquisition of the new cranes is just one facet of ongoing infrastructural investments at the Port, all of which are meant to maximize capacity and capability across the Port, the Globalplex facility and the Executive Regional Airport. Many of these projects, such as the construction of 10 additional airport T-hangars, were also funded in part by DoTD grants. In the past year, the Port also built a six-track railyard, expanded its airport runway and constructed a $19.5 million finger pier at Globalplex that allowed for simultaneous ship-to-barge and truck-to-barge operations.

Such advancements are just the beginning of upgrades and innovative changes ushered in under Matthews’ tenure, with further updates to internal software, cybersecurity and new river vessels (see page 16 for more information) better equipping the Port to not just meet market demands, but to predict and prepare for them.