In April the Port of Seattle took delivery of four new 385-ft.-high container cranes from SSA Terminals. It took about a week just to unload them from the ship to the dock. As reported by the Port of Seattle, here's how it was done:
"A pair of two-wheeled devices called 'bogies' are attached at each of the bottom corners of the crane, eight bogies per crane. The bogies roll on temporary rails from the ship onto the dock.
"Winches aboard the ship are rigged to pull the cranes off the ship. A pair of 70-ton water tanks are used as counter-weights, or 'deadmen,' for the winching system. Once the crane's permanent wheels are properly positioned above the crane rails installed on the pier, the bogies lower the cranes into place.
"The entire operation is coordinated with tidal changes and the ship must be ballasted to remain level as the weight of the cranes shifts from the ship to the pier."
Weighing 1,200 tons each, the cranes have an outreach of 203 feet, far enough to reach across a containership 23 containers wide. The new cranes were built and shipped from Shanghai by Zen Jua Port Machinery Co.
Four new container cranes prepare to be unloaded at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18.