Increasing Terminal Capacity Utilizing Wide Span Cranes at BNSF Logistics Park – Chicago
(Room 208-209)
19 Sep 17
3:00 PM
-
3:30 PM
Tracks:
AREMA Technical Sessions- Engineering Services
The LPC Wide Span Crane Project is the fourth project on BNSF to utilize Wide Span Cranes (WSC). This project is unique as it was constructed in an existing one million-lift facility utilizing WSC with special rubber tired gantry (RTG) stacking cranes under the cantilever of the WSC. This expansion increased terminal capacity 50 percent to over 1.5 million lifts making it the largest capacity intermodal facility in the country. Expansion was completed without impacting the existing operations during construction. The project challenges included relocation of a 9,000 foot ditch conveying the drainage for the terminal and adjacent 22 track Support Yard. The ditch relocation allowed for the expansion of five working tracks to ten with six of those tracks under the new WSCs. This increased the working track capacity from 40,744 feet to 78,596 feet. The Support Yard also increased by over 35,000 feet including lead improvements to handle the increased traffic. The lead improvements provided improved operational flexibility for the terminal and adjacent 95 acre auto facility. The crane rail foundation was supported by 1,742 piles. With compressible soils beneath the crane rails and tight settlement criteria for the cranes, several options were investigated to provide support for the cranes while controlling costs. Power to the facility was reconfigured to provide 1.03 megawatts of electricity for each of the new six WSCs. A redundant feed was added to provide reliable power to the cranes and the terminal in general. The new cranes are powered from a buss bar which allows all cranes to operate over the full length of the 7,600 foot craneway. A new fluid mesh wireless communications system was utilized to provide the data and communications link between the cranes, the terminal operation system and to aid safety of the crane operations. A GPS system was implemented on the new RTG cranes to improve the safety and efficiency of the stacking operations and ensure coordination with the WSCs. This presentation will discuss the challenges encountered when retrofitting an existing facility with six WSCs to increase its capacity by 50 percent to 1.5 million lifts per year.