Video Courtesy: JAXPORT
The video above shows three new 100-gauge cranes arriving at the Jacksonville Port Authority’s (JAXPORT) Blount Island Marine Terminal on August 19, 2016, after they completed a 17,000 mile journey from China to Jacksonville, Florida .
Built by crane manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd. (ZPMC), the cranes are scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2016, JAXPORT said.
Equipped to service post-Panamax vessels, each of the cranes can lift up to 65-tons and reach across 22 containers stored on a ship’s deck.
Once fully installed on the dock, the cranes will stand 220 feet tall. They are operated by electricity, rather than diesel fuel.
Berth 35 at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal underwent a rehabilitation project, including construction of a high-voltage electrical system, to accommodate the cranes.
JAXPORT invested USD 37.6 million in the purchase and installation of the three cranes and The Florida Department of Transportation assisted with a USD 15 million grant.
The port authority plans to buy a total of ten cranes for Blount Island in the next ten years.