FEATURE | NORTH AMERICA PORTS
R The Port of Virginia
truck transfer capacity for domestic and international container shipments. The automation for the rail terminal, with its connection to the port, comes from Liebherr Container Cranes, which has supplied three, fully-automated Rail- Mounted Gantry cranes (RMG) to the CSX terminal in Rocky Mount. The cabinless RMGs also include Liebherr Remote Operator Stations (ROS). The Liebherr RMGs have a span of 165ft. (50.292 m), a lift height over rail of 50ft. (15.24 m) and cantilevered outreaches both sides with a safe working load of 40
long tons (40.6 tons). Within the span, the machines will work five rail lines and a four-high, five-wide container stack, with a further two rail lines under one of the cantilevers. Truck handling will take place under the other cantilever in a truck transfer area. Container handling on the stack is fully automated and in line with terminal safety procedures, picking and placing from the rail cars is carried out remotely. The RMGs will operate on both domestic
53’ wide top pick containers and ISO containers, handling single and double stacked rail cars.
At the end of the day, the writing is on
the wall, automation will happen, says Prof. Rodrigue. The labour issue will require collaboration with the American unions. If automation doesn’t happen at some point. he suggests there will be a loss of revenue, a loss of productivity and a loss of cargo. “It (automation) will take place as long
as there is a clear issue of productivity and you want to keep social peace with your workforce,” he said. Automation at North American ports also has a friend in the technology world. “Automation throughout North American ports is building momentum. Terminal operators are genuinely interested in delivering value to their stakeholders through continuous improvement and investment in technology where it fits,” says Hugh Gallagher, VP, Customer Success, Marine, Tideworks Technology, Seattle. “Automation won’t look the same for
every facility or region, and it’s up to terminal operators to consider what is best for their terminal,” Gallagher said. “The right solutions are based on specific
terminal throughput, location and the needs of the port community. “We have partnered with a number
of terminal operators to assess how automation fits within their operations and have supported our customers with various automation initiatives. As the global supply chain continues to embrace automation and other emerging technologies, terminal operators will continue to look toward solutions that meet customers changing preferences and scale to their operations,” he added.”●
Q The CSX Rail-Mounted Gantry cranes. 18 | March 2022 | Dockside Lift & Move Supplement
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