"The Alabama State Port Authority is very honored by this award," said Jimmy Lyons, director and chief executive for the Port Authority. "We have an excellent team of engineers and operations managers who developed a terminal concept designed to reduce handling and costs associated with transitioning steel slab from ocean-going vessels to barges. It is good to receive recognition from our peers on these achievements."
The Alabama State Port Authority's Pinto Terminal at the Port of Mobile was designed to reduce handling and costs associated with transitioning steel slab from ocean-going vessels to barges for transport to ThyssenKrupp Steel USA LLC's mill located 43 miles north of the terminal on the Tombigbee River. "Optimizing technology and reducing operating expenses were the primary objectives for this terminal and a driving factor in recruiting a major industry to our region," said Lyons. Innovations at Pinto Terminal can be seen on the Pinto Terminal Video at www.asdd.com.
The resulting terminal layout consists of a 45-foot-draft, 1,050-foot-long ship berth, a slab storage yard, and barge handling slip positioned between the ship's berth and shore-side storage yard. The three post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes measure 200
feet high in operating position with a rail gauge (spread between the crane's legs) of 120 feet. Each crane's boom has an outreach of 150 feet and a back reach of 165 feet. The cranes carry a 78 metric ton maximum capacity and are equipped with magnet lift devices capable of lifting steel slabs weighing up to 36 metric tons. These magnets are the first to be utilized in any ship-to-shore cargo handling operation in North America.
Another key feature of the Pinto Terminal is the uniquely designed barge haul system. This system is another first for the marine terminal industry with three units that independently or simultaneously control three barges during cargo loading operations. Today's barge haul systems require barges be lashed or tethered during loading or unloading; and simultaneously move through the barge haul system. Pinto Terminal's independent action allows the cranes to load barges independently creating a more efficient system of loading.
Technology also extends in the Port Authority's use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology at the terminal. The RFID system is capable of identifying and recording each slab, which can vary in size, weight and metallurgy. The RFID technology allows the crane operator's computer to communicate directly with the customer to identify steel slabs needed for production at the steel mill. "This technology really streamlines cargo handling operations as it allows for inventory tracking and extremely efficient delivery to the plant," said Lyons.
Pinto Terminal's annual throughput capacity is about 5 million tons with a slab storage yard capacity of 150,000 tons. At full production, ThyssenKrupp will process some 5.1 million tons of carbon and stainless steel annually and employ 2,700 people. Following ThyssenKrupp's May 2007 decision to build in Calvert, Ala., the Alabama State Port Authority had until December 2010 to complete a steel-handling terminal that would accommodate post-Panamax vessels carrying some 4.1 million tons of inbound carbon steel slab annually from Brazil and Germany and transload the slab to inland river barges bound for the mill's processing line on the Tombigbee River.
