Warren County officials could have a summary report on the feasibility of installing an E-Crane on the T-dock at the Port of Vicksburg later this week, county supervisors learned Monday.

“It looks like with some modification, building some pads to mount the E-Crane on that T-dock that can be a possibility,” said Brian Robbins of Stantec, which is doing the study and preparing plans for the crane.

“We’ll be working on the drawings this week for the stand alone pedestal, so that we can give a cost for you to look at and see what would be the best option down there for the operation of that facility if you all decide to get an E-Crane, or Watco, or whatever works out, we’ll have it the next week or so.”

The crane is a major component in a proposal by WATCO to attract a new customer for the port.

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.

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.

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. Stantec was directed by the board to determine if the dock could handle both cranes.

Robbins said the company could have a plan to install the crane by the end of this week.

He said, however, putting both cranes on the dock could create space problems.

“The only issue we see is the loss of real estate out there. Having both cranes on that dock basically renders it useless for just about anything else.

“It’s kind of a logistics thing,” he said, adding having both cranes on the T-section of the dock would occupy that entire section of the dock.

“In other words, if you had to store anything out there or movement wise, it’s just taking up a lot of space,” he said. “I think (the mobile crane) it’s a Manitowoc crane; it’s humongous in itself and the other would be a permanent fixture on that dock.

“The other crane, they can move on and off. It’s something to look at logistics-wise and keep that T-dock freed up if that’s what you choose to do.”

Board of Supervisors President Richard George said having both cranes on the dock at the same time would limit the operating radius of each.

“It means the other (movable) crane’s going to have to abandon the T-dock,” he said. “It ain’t going to be on that T-dock while that E-Crane is working.”

Robbins said having both cranes on the deck would restrict truck traffic going there to take or unload cargo.

“I would assume trucks would be backed up on that approach section loading,” he said. If you had the other crane working, it would slow you down. The purpose of that E-Crane is to speed it up.”