2009 Photos and Events

February 10, 2009

The Port's heavy lift crane is in the process of being completely dismantled down to the turnstile. Erv Kehring and Eric Polzin, port crane operators, along with Reynold's Erecting/Dawes are taking the blocks off, replacing the shives, bearings, and inspecting all the pieces with ultrasound technology. They will check for thickness of the steel and make sure there are no flaws or cracks.  The repairs will be completed by mid March, in time for open navigation of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

   The Port welcomes our newest employee, Julia Marshall.  Julia will be working in our Engineering Division.  Julia grew up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and will soon graduate from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with her BA in English for professional and technical writing and is also attending Milwaukee Area Technical College in the Civil Engineer Technical program.
 The International Longshoremen's Union stand behind Eric Reinelt in efforts to save port jobs from the Wis DNR's proposed vessel permitting rule  Sandy Siegel Co-Owner of M.E. Dey & Co., Gilles Plante, General Manager of Federal Marine Terminals-Milw and Tim Hoelter, President, Board of Harbor Commissioners, wait for the Press Conference to begin outside of Terminal 2, in below freezing temperatures.

 Jason Steinglien, Marketing-Port of Milw.; Sandy Siegel, VP M.E. Dey & Co., Richard Blaylock, Ops Manager of Nidera Grain, Myly Her, Volunteer International Student at the Port and Andy Lisak, Development Assoc of Superior 

Tom Sschwark of ILA Local 815 speeks before a Press Conference March 23rd to Plead the DNR match MN, IL, IN, PA, and OH standards for ballast water treatment.  These ILA men all came out on their personal time to petition to the media to save their jobs threatened by Wis DNR rules on ballast water. Some have worked on the docks for 40 years.
April is finally here and the ILA have smiles on their faces as the 50 degree temps are welcomed. The IRYDA is the first ocean vessel to call Milwaukee 4-16-09, Port mobile cranes have the lifting capacity of 70 and 90 tons.
These Kalmar forklifts have the lifting capacity 52,000 pounds.

 

This goose and her nest is protected only by three yellow pillars.

Only ten feet away the forklift seen on your left travels by.

 These officers were among 300 emergency responer at the Port of Milwaukee during an excerise. Photo by POM  Many of the first to arrive at the emergency response excerise at the Port.  Photo by POM

Diver stands patiently as he waits to be inspected for radio activity chemcials.

   
  The port began receiving limestone for the We Energies Oak Creek power plant.  Gillen, a port tenat, is repairing a dockwall near the liquid cargo pier.
 

 June was Safety Month for Port tenant "Lafarge Corp. Bruce Scott, General Manager of Lafarge-Milwaukee hired Cintas to train staff on how to put out a Class B fire. A Class A fire is ash, wood and garbage. A Class B fire is cooking oils, liquids, petroleum based fires. These are difficult to put out because the vapors or fumes are what are on fire.  A Class C fire is an electrical fire (don't ever use water on a Class C fire).

It is important to know the ABC's of fire extingquishing. Cintas used five pound chemical extinquishers which all have an A, B, or C rating on them for you to know which extinguisher to use on what fire.  The labels on extinquishers will say how many feet you should stand back from the fire, typically 10-12 feet.  Extingquishers are a one-time uses.  Even if you test it for a second, the tab will be released and continue to leak until empty.

Question:  What should always be behind you when putting out a fire? (call Betty at 414-286-8131 or email her at bnowak@milwaukee.gov) with the answer and win a port of Milwaukee baseball cap.

 Lafarge staff exercises putting out the Class B fire  Port staff puts out this Class B fire
   This 360 ton transformer was unloaded at the Port on Thursday, July 2nd using the Jumbo ship Fairload.  This is the heaviest piece ever handled at the Port in anyone's recollection. The transformer was landed to the ground where the AAB specialized rail car weighing 273 tons carried from the Port to Iowa on the Union Pacific Railroad.  Specialized Rail Transport was responsible for the inland transportation.  Once connected to the 20-axle schnabel rail car, the unit was 156.6 feet long. This rail car can hydrolicaly move left or right up to 14 inches to get around bridges and curves.  Federal Marine Terminals is the Port's general cargo stevedore responsible for the safe handling of all breakbulk cargos.
 Federal Marine Terminals hires International Longshoremen to safely maneuver general cargoes.  Port engineers worked with Marketing and SRT to ensure the transformer would fit under and around the bridges within the Port
Federal Marine Terminals superintendant "Luke" illustrates how strong the cranes need to be to lift this monster of cargo,
 In June, these eight trucks hauling ball bearing pieces were brought through the Port and convoyed down I-794.

8/4/09

TLS (a division of Kinder Morgan) provides transload services at the Port of Milwaukee

Storage of domestic steel products is available by TLS (Kinder Morgan)

8/4/09

The Algowood is arriving with salt while the Lafarge vessel is unloading cement (Stewart Cort is in the background with the City skyline)

plate is being transloaded from rail car to truck
The Algoway is loading corn at the Nidera Grain Elevator while the Algowood arrives to unload salt 8/4/09 The river skimmer is leaving its dock at the Port to clean the Milwaukee, KK and Menomonee rivers 8/4/09

Eric Polzin

Dan Acevedo

 
8/4/09 The Port's heavy lift crane was rebuilt and the work is now complete. The lowest bid was $1.5 million for the work. Port staff was able to do it for less than $400,000. Saving the city $1.1 million!
 
There was a total team effort in planning and executing the total rebuild of the crane: It started with Eric Reinelt, our port director, who obtained the support of the Mayor to do this in-house.
Key port people:
Joe DiGiorgio, Operations Manager- tenure 35 years; Wayne Johnson, Assistant Operations Manager, 27 years; Dave E. Corcoran, Crane Operator, 13 years; Eric Polzin, Crane Operator, 2 years and Erv Kehring who retired recently from 35 years of City service. Erv, who still works temporarily as a Port crane operator and crane mechanic, worked on this crane for 35 years and was a key person to give the Port the comfort level in proceeding down this road. Port staff worked outside in sub zero temperatures, blowing winds – forty feet above ground, tearing apart steel fittings, for weeks, and didn’t slow until someone got pneumonia.  These guys are so dedicated to the city and the port. 
 
These men really deserve our appreciation for the team effort and dedication to the City and the Port. 
 
Other port mechanics very much involved in the repairs were: Daniel Acevedo, Lee Teasley, Dale Johnson, and Tom Bilicki.
 
The crane is a “Theilacker Stiff-leg Derrick”, with a Manitowoc electric motor, aka: Crane 15. This crane has the heaviest port capacity west of Erie, PA, with the ability to lift 440,000 pounds. The crane is used in lifting power plant equipment, transformers, local cruise boats and tugs for repairs, P&H and Bucyrus mining equipment and other heavy machinery that moves through the port.
 
It started two or three years ago when we went to the Budget Office to see if we could get a new crane, but this would cost over $4.5 million. The crane sheaves were worn to a critical condition, all the bearings were shot, etc. We started going to outside companies for repair bids with $1.5 million being the low bid.  The metal was tested to see if it was still good (not rotted inside), and realized the rebuild could possibly be done with port personnel.
 
Local companies were hired to do some of the machining of parts that were needed.  
 
The physical work started January 1, 2009 and was completed July 1, 2009 (literally thousands of parts from many different local vendors-many that had to be built – not available off a shelf).  Paint is currently being applied and should be done in the next week or two to match the port’s other cranes. It was certified June 26, 2009 to lift the heavy pieces the Port and the City required to meet the needs of our manufacturing base.
Photos of loading the BBC Chili 8/24/09  

The Port of Milwaukee was honored to have the Hwy H20 organization sponsor the viewing of the Imax movie "Mysteries of the Great Lakes" on September 21, 2009.  Pictured to the left (left to right) is Bruce Hodgson of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (Canadian Management group of the Seaway), Rebecca McGill of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (U.S. side of the Seaway), and Milwaukee's Port Director Eric Reinelt.

 

Over 100 people attended the cocktail reception and enjoyed the 45 minute thought provoking, informative movie about the history and current health of the Great Lakes.

 
 
On Monday, November 11, 2009 a celebration was held at the Paul Davis Restoration Company on the Kinnickinic River. Thanks to the efforts of the Port of Milwaukee, City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin, a section of the Kinnickinnic River has been cleaned up and is being redeveloped. The project will also enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expand the existing confined disposal facility allowing for dredging of the port area for the next twenty years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provided major funding for the project. Above left is City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and his assistant Jody Tabek. Above Right is the Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Chairman of  BID 35 Dave Ferron and the local President of Paul Davis. To the right, a picture of the KK River today. Canoeists and boaters now have a beautiful river to experience.  Below is Board of Harbor Commissioner Kristine Martinsek who has been a backbone supporter of these type of projects benefiting the City and the Port, and was also in attendance. This project employed 60 people and was completed one month early and on budget.   
   
 
     
The above two photos are of the North American Salt Company, aka: Compass Minerals blending and treating rock salt.  The salt is being pretreated with high-performance liquid deicers, creating an enhanced de-icing salt..  The new product will allow the salt to work in lower temperatures and will require less salt used on the roads.    
     

 

Print :: Close