Just like any other port on the US East Coast, Savannah is working hard to accommodate the larger vessels after an expanded Panama Canal opens by the end of 2014. But a recent study by the Army Corps of Engineers shows that deepening the harbor from 42 feet to 48 feet will flush enough saltwater into the river to cause a significant spike in chlorides. Deepening the Savannah port’s shipping channel to accommodate supersized cargo ships is too important to let the project falter. The chlorides themselves wouldn’t be dangerous to drink but would make the water more corrosive, meaning higher and possibly toxic levels of lead and copper found in pipes and plumbing could end up in people’s tap water. The best way to fix the problem is to move an intake plant that sucks up river water for processing several miles upstream to where the water would be less salty. The Army Corps estimates the cost would be USD40 million. What’s undecided is who would foot the bill. Currently, the Army Corps is waiting for outside experts to review the agency’s study before deciding whether the deepening project would pose any harm to Savannah’s drinking water. Savannah has the nation’s fourth-busiest cargo port, which handled a record 2.8 million TEU of imports and exports last year.

Bromma has been awarded contracts for a total of 62 new spreaders for three port projects in Colombia, Brasil and Kuwait. In Colombia the company has won a new contract for 29 crane spreaders (5 quay crane spreaders and 24 all-electric RTG spreaders) for the expanding Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena operation in Colombia. The growing port of Cartagena is in the process of expanding its operational capacity to 4.5 million TEU. Also in Latin America, Bromma won a new order for 13 YTR40E spreaders – Bromma’s innovative twin-lift all-electric spreader for yard operations – for use in Santos, Brasil. These spreaders will be equipped with Bromma’s new load-sensing technology, first introduced to the market in June 2010. Finally, Bromma has won a new contract for 20 YSX40E yard single-lift all-electrics for the Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait.

Bromma has been awarded two major new contracts for the supply of all-electric spreaders for use on automated stacking cranes. Bromma has won an order for a total of 40 GreenLine™ all-electric yard crane spreaders for the new Terminal Catalunya SA (TERCAT) facility in Barcelona, Spain. The other contract for a total of 34 GreenLine YSX45E all-electric yard crane spreaders is for the new Khalifa Port in development at Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The spreaders will be placed in service on the one-over-five automated stacking yard cranes (ASC) to be used at this terminal.

The chute outlet is equipped with a FlexFill which on one hand  optimises filling by spreading the material inside the tanks and on the other hand also functions as a closing cone, which means that besides ensuring that no foreign bodies can get into the chute when not in use, it prevents residue material dropping out after loading. Furthermore, the chutes are equipped with a FlexVib, a vibrator that is activated after loading has stopped and which considerably reduces the residue material in the chute.

Cimbria has also supplied Hungrana Kft with 2 Moduflex loading chutes type D300 with integrated filter for loading powder and gluten into both open and closed trucks from the same installation. Both products are fine powders which generate a lot of dust and are particularly difficult to load onto flatbed trucks. The chutes are equipped with a multi-outlet for both open and closed loading, and a rotating indicator mounted in the chute outlet acts as a level control. The chutes have a loading capacity ranging from 100-250m³ depending on the powder being loaded.