County awaits more info on crane

Published 10:09 am Tuesday, September 27, 2016

County officials are awaiting more information from WATCO about a proposal to install a crane on the T-dock at the Port of Vicksburg.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors discussed the crane during an update on a potential new customer for the port offering the potential of off-loading 250,000 tons of cargo per year or more.

WATCO Terminal and Port Services, which operates and manages the port under a contract with the county, presented the potential deal to the board Sept. 13 with a list of port improvements totaling between $5 million and $6 million to accommodate the new business, including a new crane, a one- to two-acre outside concrete pad for $550,000 per acre, a new front-end loader for $355,000, winches, road improvements, three off-road trucks and fencing.

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The company presently has a “crawler” or mobile crane on the port’s T-dock, and the port’s overhead crane, which was damaged in a fire and has been repaired, county officials said. WATCO wants a $1.85 million equilibrium, or E-Crane, which is supposed to be more efficient, on the T-dock.

County administrator John Smith said WATCO wants options to handle cargo at the port.

“We haven’t heard back from them (how the other cranes would be used),” he said.

An E-Crane uses a design based on a parallelogram-style boom that provides a direct mechanical connection between the counterweight and the load to remain balanced. It takes about six months to build.

John McKee with Stantec, the county’s engineers, said he is also waiting to hear from WATCO.

“We’ve asked them for more information on their plans,” he said. “The dock is county property, and they want us to take a look at it once we hear back from WATCO. Once we get the information we need, we’ll know what we’re looking at.”

In another matter, Warren County agent Anna McCain said Mississippi State University’s Extension program will share space with Alcorn State University’s extension service. MSU has offices in the county-owned building on Grove Street it shares with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Driver’s License office.

McCain’s news follows a Sept. 20 motion by District 2 Supervisor William Banks Jr. and District 3 supervisor Charles Selmon, that would have allowed Alcorn State University’s extension office to share space with MSU.

The motion was defeated 3-2 to allow MSU officials to respond.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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