A new gantry crane certified at 52t and capable of travelling at 300ft per minute is being installed at the Port of Umatilla in the US thanks to a $1million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the organisation that enforces rail safety regulations in the US.
The single girder, torsion suspension, crane was supplied by Ederer Cranes of Seattle, Washington, USA. It will replace an ageing gantry crane erected in the 1940s, and will be used by farmers in northeast Oregon to load barges to transport their produce.
The grant is the second given to the port for the crane project. Last year, the FRA gave $2.7m to get the project underway.
Part of the FRA’s job is to administer railroad assistance programmes and, as in this case, cash will sometimes be made available to ensure added efficiency and safety by replacing ageing machinery.
