The City of Paris is investing in the development of waterborne traffic for environmental reasons. On 1 October, the two Cargotec DRF450-70S5XS reachstackers were part of a historic event in which food containers arrived in Paris by river for the first time since the Middle Ages.
One of the reachstackers unloads containers from the vessels onto lorries at Port de la Bourdonnais, opposite the Eiffel Tower. The containers – 26 per day – are then transported by lorry to Franprix grocery stores in central Paris. The other reachstacker is operated at the suburban port of Bonneil sur Marne where the vessels are loaded.
In consideration of tourists and residents of houseboats, the equipment must be quiet. Operated in an area of 20m x 20m, the reachstackers must also be highly manoeuvrable. The subdued dark-grey paint was the customer’s choice for ensuring that the stackers blend into the banks of the Seine in the background. “The special feature of the equipment is that they are able to pick up containers from various levels of the vessel: they can even reach 1.90 metres under the quay,” said Rémy Cimino, Kalmar Product Sales Manager.
The order was placed by Paris Terminal and Terminaux de Seine (TDS) in April 2012. The full service agreement covers both preventive and corrective maintenance. Paris Terminal’s director, Alain O’Jeanson, is happy with the reachstackers, which have been in trial use since 27 August. “The units are an exact match for the requirements we agreed on. First-class after-sales service was a decisive factor in the selection of a partner,” he said.