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The bigger cranes bring benefits

The bigger cranes bring benefits
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Reference case The original article was published in Way Up magazine 2/2008. The bigger cranes bring benefits Connecting the specialties The new cranes provided by Konecranes to the Seattle and Los Angeles terminals of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) raised capacity to a new level. ranes dot the Grand Harbor of Seattle. This is the container ship harbor of Washington State, a link between the United States and Asia. Director of Intermodal Hub Operations and Technology Tom P. Kelly, steps inside the terminal office of BNSF. “The bigger cranes bring benefits. We have a lot of flexibility and much more capacity with this design. We will save time and money. It’s an enormous improvement to our procedures.” The four new wide span Rail Mounted Gantry (RMG) cranes were introduced at the BNSF Seattle International Gateway Terminal last November. The 126-feet (38 meters) across, 105-feet (32 meters) wide cranes are more than double the size of any other cranes in the terminal. Thanks to the wide span cranes, the facility can have as many as six tracks. The cranes are able to load and unload containers between trucks and railroad cars standing on the tracks. The crane is so wide that it can reach over the track next to it. Engineering, project management, assembly and erection were done by Konecranes. Tom Kelly has held supervisory positions for 35 years, and nowadays he is based in the BNSF headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. He has been able to follow the rapid growth of the transportation business in the past 40 years from a vantage point. For example, trailers have mostly been replaced by containers. The Seattle terminal realized that it was time for a big change, and so plans got underway to buy better cranes. The process started very simply. Tom Kelly, who has a strong background in container and lifting equipment design and an interest in art, sketched a crane on a napkin. With his colleagues he refined the design further and discussed practical arrangements. BNSF decided to contact Konecranes because it knew that the company made highquality products. The project began with both parties meeting and reviewing the needs and procedures of BNSF. This way the cranes could be designed to meet the exact requirements of the Seattle terminal. The new cranes are based on BNSF’s experience of railway terminals and Konecranes’ specialized lifting technology know-how. “We have really enjoyed our relationship with Konecranes. And it’s been fun! It’s serious business, but we try to keep it relaxed.” Space and location are key The most important reason for switching to wide span cranes is lack of space in the downtown areas of big cities like Seattle. When you run out of space, you have to go upward, like skyscrapers. “We have limited space in most of our facilities. We can’t build an intermodal facility far away from our railways, because the expenses would be too high,” Kelly notes. Another reason is city dwellers’ resistance to the expansion of “These cranes will provide us with all that we need for many years.” Seattle terminal: Cooperation between Konecranes and BNSF is serious business, but has also been fun. BNSF has its roots in the legendary Santa Fe Railway: in 1995 Santa Fe Railway merged with Burlington Northern. KONECRANES MAGAZINE 2/2008

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Reference case “We’re trying to create a seamless connection with our steamship partners, the truckers, and all ramp operations,” says Tom Ison, General Director of the L.A. terminal, as he describes the procedures. BNSF aims at coordinating information between all parties, so that everybody knows exactly when a train arrives and where a container will be. A smooth and quick process is important for the truckers, who get paid per load. This brings more customers to BNSF, too. Communication and a good understanding of operations improve safety. Easy maintenance industrial areas and the...

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