Just a cool project I'm currently on

[Drew Pojedinec]

So we got hired to haul a barge to Puerto Rico from Georgia with some cranes on it.
No problem right?  well these are three gantry cranes used to unload ships.

The first picture is for size reference of the cranes with a massive container ship.  I'm standing on the pilot house roof of my boat so height of eye is probably 65 ft or so.



I think one of the guys said the cranes are 180ft tall.
These are the three cranes we are going to haul and the barge we are loading them on.  The barge is 115ft wide if I remember.  They are having to cut the cranes into two pieces, if you notice on the first picture the four blue things on the bottom are jacking cranes.  They will cut right under the bottom crossmember, remove the legs, and lower the rest of the crane down to the ground.  The Cranes will be set on trailers and when the tide is right, hopefully they'll roll them right onto the barge.








I might take some pictures Tuesday when the cranes get cut up and rolled on the barge if I'm not too busy.

Drew

[turbohunter]

Whoa, big.
Are they for scrap or to be reworked?
Lotta high weight on that barge.

[Drew Pojedinec]

no, we are going to reassemble them in Puerto Rico.  Yeah, stability is a big deal, there is a company that is hired just for that in this project.

[MeanGene]

I spend a lot of time doing repairs at the Port of Oakland, usually on Saturday when the cranes aren't running. Spent all winter down there after Loma Prieta in '89, first work was repairing one of the crane rails, the cranes run on two with a huge umbilical coil. In this yard, one of the rails was on the dock, which was constructed on pilings and didn't move, but the inboard rail was off the dock in the paved area, which sunk a foot during the quake. There were three new cranes already on the water from Korea, and they were looking at massive surcharges if unloading was held up- we made the deadline. And yeah, the cranes were sideways on the ship, they waited until the tide was right, and the cranes just walk off the ship on temp rails and power- quite a thing to watch.
You can tell when the crane operator gets a little rummy near end of shift, sometimes they will miss the pins on the yard dog trailer, pick the container up about 4 feet, and drop it down hard- poor bastage in the yard dog goes for a pretty good ride when it bottoms out

[machoneman]

Wow Drew, bigger IS better....LOL!

What is the fan-looking round thingee? Cooling for the self contained engine?

[fe66comet]

I have a friend that took me into the Joliet container yard in IL. And also did a lot of work for large shipping companies. Yup the stuff is huge, the lift trucks are monsters also, all the cabs on the cranes and equipment have A/C and heat so I did maintenance and repair on that stuff. Take care as you and I well know rigging can be a real hazard.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Gene,
This boat was part of the dredging of Oakland when they redid  some of the cranes last time (2010-11?)

A lot of this has to do with US ports trying to accomodate Post-Panamax sized tankers.  Because of this, cranes need to be taller, and channels need to be deeper (good for me, seeing as how I work in dredging/crane work/towing company.

The big round things are wire.  I'm no expert on large cranes (I'm chief on the tug boat) but I'm pretty sure that is the cord they plug these in with

fe66comet:  Have no fear, I'm not part of the rigging crew.... as we say here in towing, "We don't load the cart, we just drag it around."  I'll be well away video taping it most likely when they cut it.  Working with large Gantry cranes is new for us, we mostly tow large barges and do dredge assist.

[Drew Pojedinec]

The one captain took a time lapse of loading a crane after the legs got cut off.

http://vid68.photobucket.com/albums/i6/DeepRootsNursery/Savannnah%20crane%20video_zpswqxf6sua.mp4

I forgot to upload it.
We should be leaving in 6 days as everything is loaded and getting welded down.  Need the tide to be perfect to leave with this.

figured I'd update the post.

[mlcraven]

fair winds and following seas on your upcoming voyage

[Heo]

I was aboard a tugboat about 20 years ago and welded in new
plumbing for the fire extinguis system in the engine room
They towed timber on barges across the Balticsea. If i remember
things right the V12 they had was 15000 hp
Thats the biggest turbos and roller rockers i have ever seen  
They had a few spare rockers the rockers took up a whole pallet

Was about 65 degres celsius in the engineroom and Dieselfumes
so your eyes watered.you could work for about 15 min then we had
to go up on deck to cool down and breath. Every time we was up
on deck the the chief of the engineroom came and gave us a cold
beer and i can tell you it tasted like heaven

[Drew Pojedinec]

Finally outbound. 





I'm the dude with the brown shirt and jeans:



Happy to finally be getting back offshore.  Been 3 months straight... Last time I spent this much time on land or tied to a dock was 2006.

[country63sedan]

Dang, that's a load. Is it as close to that bridge as it looks? I wish you smooth sailing. Later, Travis

[Drew Pojedinec]

We figured it would be between 10-14ft.  ended up right about at 12ft, we had two dudes up on the top of the crane with a stick

Got cell service today as we are near Miami, bout to make the turn and head to Cuba then north of the Dominican, round the corner to San Juan.  Been averaging 3-4knots due to running against the Gulf stream.  Did the math, we are getting 32 gallons per mile on fuel economy.  Engine egts have been around 800 tho so that is good, lot more power if we need it.

[turbohunter]

Hey Drew, isn't there a fairly deep trench out there you have to cross?
Curious about staying in as shallow water as possible so things are a bit more stable.
Does that figure into the route plan?

[Drew Pojedinec]

Blech..... day 14 of the tow.  10 ft Side Seas for the last few days, so no sleep.  Air conditioner died two days ago and it's 110 degrees in the house (bout 130 in my engine room where I work).  The trade winds have been kicking our butt, feel like we are towing a parachute.
"Feel like I'm on a floating prison on Planet Bullshit."  -quote from the deckhand.

Burned over 45,000 gallons of fuel, used 220 gallons of lube oil, and won't hit the sea bouy until the morning of the 25th.

As far as deep trenches, no worries, we NEED to be in super deep water.  Seeing as how we have 1700ft of 2inch wire rope out to tow with, anything less than 80ft of water and we run the risk of either grabbing something with the tow wire (which would suck).  Or ruining the wire by dragging it in the sand.

For what it's worth, the barge and tow has been rock solid..... despite us in the boat getting bounced around like so many BB's in a soda can, I haven't seen the barge move or sway once.