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For Immediate Release Vancouver USA port to handle heavy cargo for Winter Olympics April 22, 2008 -- Vancouver, B.C. might be hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but Vancouver, Wash. (USA) plays a key role in making a part of the Olympic construction happen. The Port of Vancouver USA, which owns the largest mobile harbor crane in North America, will discharge critical elements of the record-breaking sized ski lift at Whistler Resort because of the port’s mobile harbor crane’s capacity and ability. Included among the cargo that will transit the Atlantic Ocean from the Swiss factory in which it was manufactured to the Port of Vancouver USA is four spools of cable that each weigh more than 100 metric tons, and one smaller spool of cable. Omnitrans of New York is working with its European partner General Transport in arrangements of the entire move. The two partners have coordinated the logistics from collection at the factory through delivery to the job site. Logistics include the barge move from the factory down the Rhine River to Vlissengen; the overseas move on the Star Indiana to Vancouver USA; the port’s movement on to rail cars; the rail move to Canada; the move from rail to truck; and the move from the rail yard to the job site at Whistler. The cargo will be discharged from the Star Indiana, which is currently scheduled to arrive at the Port of Vancouver USA on Sunday, June 1. Construction of the new “Peak to Peak” gondola is expected to be complete and in operation more than a year before the opening of the Winter Olympics. Once the cable reaches Whistler via rail it will take 12-14 weeks to string the cable across the valley. Ironically, the port’s heavy-lift mobile harbor crane – a Liebherr LHM500, capable of lifting 140 metric tons, or the equivalent of two space shuttles – was designed in Austria and built in Germany, and made a similar Atlantic transit to get to the port in 2006. “With our mobile harbor crane, the Port of Vancouver USA has become known as a port that can handle extremely heavy cargo,” said Executive Director Larry Paulson. “We’re proud to bring a little part of the Winter Olympic Games through Vancouver USA. “From our Longshore workers and the efficiency with which they work with port terminal folks and stevedores, to the facilities and equipment the Port of Vancouver USA has – as well as our connection to the West Coast’s most important rail line – this cargo is a great example of the confidence that the world has in Vancouver’s ability to handle huge cargos like this one.” The finished product will connect the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, and will be the longest free-span lift in the world. It will also be recorded as the world’s highest detachable lift and the only gondola of its kind on the continent. The cable spools were loaded to a barge at the Basel Rhine Port on April 10, and loaded to the ocean-going Star Indiana in Vlissingen, Belgium on April 19 for the cross-Atlantic voyage to Vancouver, Wash., that includes a passage through the Panama Canal. In operation, the Doppelmayr lift will include 28 cars carrying up to 28 passengers each. The lift will take 11 minutes to travel from peak to peak, with cars leaving approximately every 54 seconds. At a Glance Who: Port of Vancouver USA * * * * * * * * The Port of Vancouver, USA, created by Clark County taxpayers in 1912, is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast. Its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community.
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