Page 111 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

PART II BRINGING THE WORLD TO BALTIMORE
RUKERT TERMINALS’ VERSATILE MOBILE HARBOR CRANE
IN 2010, RUKERT TERMINALS PURCHASED A LIEBHERR MODEL 500
S MOBILE HARBOR CRANE. The 500-ton crane has a lifting capacity of 140 tons and a maximum outreach of 51 meters. The block and hook alone weigh 4.2 tons. In addition to its heavy lift capacity and efficient break-bulk and container capability, the Liebherr can discharge more than 1,000 tons of bulk cargo per hour.
The crane’s design gives it unparalleled balance and mobility. It travels on 80 truck tires that move 360 degrees. Unlike traditional mobile cranes, the operator’s cab is elevated 75 feet off the ground, allowing the operator to have a clear view of the ship and pier. There is a second cab located much lower on the machinery deck to make ground and barge operations easier. In addition, the pivot point on the boom is elevated far higher than any other type of crane, allowing offshore cargo to be reached with ease.
bound for the Brandon Shores Power Plant, where
it would be used in the “wet scrubbers” that filter coal emissions. Every other week for the next five years, employees loaded 3,000 tons of limestone into waiting barges at the barge berth. The deal validated Norm’s intuition about building the barge berth and brought steady revenue to Rukert Terminals as the country was emerging from the recession of 2008.
It seemed that “Rukert luck” had struck again. In 2009, Rukert Terminals purchased a
brand-new 275-ton hydraulic Terex crawler crane for the Lazaretto Terminal. This crane joined two other crawlers already in service there. Meanwhile, the company was in pursuit of a heavy-duty and versatile crane to anchor operations at “B” berth.
The second decade of the 21st century opened with a bang. The period of historic snowstorms
in February 2010, known as “Snowmageddon,”
broke a number of records for Baltimore and
Rukert Terminals. After four feet of snow had
fallen in one week, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley declared a state of emergency. Rukert Terminals collaborated with the state of Maryland on “Operation Ice Pick” at the Lazaretto Terminal. This allowed the State Highway Administration to buy and load much-needed deicing salt as soon as
it was discharged from the vessel to the pier. With dozens of steadfast employees working around the clock, 40,000 tons of deicing salt were delivered
to state storage facilities in less than four days. During the month of February, Heavy Equipment Operators loaded an average of 900 salt trucks per day! Dedicated Scale House employees like Roland Nixon, who once walked to work in two feet of snow, weighed each and every outbound load. In total, 2010 brought 80 inches of snow and 1.8 million
tons of salt to the Port of Baltimore, smashing the previous record of 1.4 million tons, set in 1994.
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