The equipment will be used at the Seadrift Coke Plant, the only standalone, self-sufficient coke plant in the nation and on the top five list of “green” plants. The plant will turn coal into a more combustible bio-fuel product to be used in blast furnaces and power plants.
The kiln sections were made at A.C. Equipment Services in West Allis, Wis., and the 18-foot wide rings were made at the Falk Corporation in Milwaukee. The pieces weigh between 75,000 and 125,000 pounds each.
The cargo was loaded November 23, using the resources of the Port of Milwaukee and Dawes Crane & Rigging. Vision Logistics, Milwaukee, is overseeing the move.
Barging is not only more economical but also saves fuel by consolidating the entire project into one move instead of trucking or rail, the port said in an announcement. The two barges will take 13 very large, oversized trucks off the roads between Wisconsin and Texas, and a minimum of 26 escort vehicles required from each state. The transportation costs to move these large rings by the road would have been astronomical; barging from the Port will cut the transportation costs to the customer by at least half….
“We’re here to stay and we’re going to invest in the long-term future of the company,” exclaimed Stephen Little, Crounse Corporation chairman and chief executive officer, as he pointed to a large banner affixed to the company’s gleaming new headquarters. The banner read, “Crounse welcomes you to the beginning of our next 60 years.”
The well-known coal carrier moved into its new $4.5 million “green” headquarters completed only weeks previously. Construction of the modern two-story, 17,000-square-foot facility began last May on the site of what was at one time part of the former Paducah Marine Ways. Ingram Barge Company later had its operations center there before moving into a modern new complex last year.
Michael Byers, manager of corporate administration, said the new headquarters is the first “LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified” building in West Kentucky and one of few in the state. Twenty percent of the material used in constructing the environmentally friendly building came from recycled sources. Highly reflective windows cover 32 percent of the exterior walls for efficient lighting and temperature control, which is augmented with an 18-zone heating and cooling system that “borrows” energy from unused or underused rooms.
The attractive structure features brick veneer and blue mirrored clear glass spandrel panels, enhanced by a reflecting pond along the street side….
The Lt. Robert E. Lee, a replica riverboat restaurant that graced the St. Louis riverfront for years but struggled to find its way in the post-9/11 climate, will be sold in an unreserved auction on December 19 in St. Louis, according to a press release from auction house Ritchie Bros.
The Lt. Robert E. Lee was built in 1969 together with a sister boat, the Reuben E. Lee (which went to San Diego) by Fred Leyhe, owner of Eagle Marine Industries. Leyhe was the son of Capt. Buck Leyhe, an owner of the Eagle Packet Company that operated many famous steamboats.
It was named the “Lieutenant” Robert E. Lee to commemorate the time the future Confederate general spent as a young Army Corps of Engineers surveyor in St. Louis, where he surveyed the harbor…
If you work in the maritime sector, whether inland, offshore or blue-water, you already had reason to be grateful for the employment climate in the industry, compared with many sectors that are rapidly shedding workers in the economic downturn.
Now hiring options have improved further for some maritime workers.
The Coast Guard has announced a “nationwide civilian hiring drive” to support new programs in marine safety and inspection.
The announcement was made November 18 in a memo called ALCOAST 568/08, issued by Rear Admiral James A. Watson, U. S. Coast Guard director of prevention policy. The memo detailed the Coast Guard’s personnel policy for the coming year….
When he played basketball for the Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama, Tim Parker Jr. knew how to dish the ball to his teammates. Today, as chairman of a nearly 70-year-old river business that was founded by his father in 1940, he uses the same mindset in passing credit on to his employees.
Earlier this fall, he heaped accolades on his port captain, Capt. Bobby Joe James, at a christening of a boat named in the longtime employees’ honor, and, more recently, he praised Capt. Curtis Taylor for his 36 years of dedicated service, at the christening of the mv. Curtis Taylor.
Parker Towing Company held the christening ceremony for the Curtis Taylor October 23 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the company’s dock on the Black Warrior River.
Taylor started decking for Parker Towing Company in the summer of 1972 while attending the University of Alabama. He worked his way up to engineer and then trained as a pilot under Capt. James. The first vessel under his command was the mv. Birmingham. Then came the mvs. Thelma Parker and Alison Haun. He is currently in charge of the Thelma Parker II.
Taylor’s grandfather and great uncle both worked on the river. His father served in the U.S. Merchant Marine….
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