PED Crane and Infrastructure Upgrade Project: Overview and Lessons Learned

Container terminals worldwide that are near airports often have significant height restrictions requiring low profile ship-to-shore container cranes (LPCs). Current generation LPCs are significantly heavier and more complex, and present challenges for crane and wharf designers. They can weigh 6,000 kip (2,680 t), with 400 ft (122 m) long, 20 ft (6.1 m) deep truss booms that shuttle back and forth, resulting in unusually large loads on the wharf girder system. This paper follows the paper co-authored by Arun Bhimani and Anna Dix of Liftech and Claude Gentil of Port Everglades for the ASCE COPRI Ports 2019 conference outlining key considerations for design of the infrastructure supporting some of the largest LPCs. It presents an overview of the recently completed construction of the crane rail girder system and other infrastructure to support up to eight LPCs. It briefly explains the crane and girder systems, design and construction issues encountered, and key lessons learned. Ports that require LPCs or standard A-frame type ship-to-shore container cranes will benefit from this paper.