Bay Area firm to clean up JAXPORT crane mess

Bay Area firm to clean up JAXPORT crane mess A California Bay Area rigging firm has been awarded a $1.6 million contract by the Jacksonville Port Authority for cleanup and removal of container gantry cranes at the Blount Island Marine Terminal that collapsed during severe weather earlier this month.
   Alameda, Calif.-based Rigging International submitted the winning bid, and will remove the two collapsed cranes and repair three other cranes damaged during the Aug. 13 incident.
   'We are grateful to our tenants for their continued patience as we move towards the resolution of this current challenge,' said Rick Ferrin, Jacksonville Port Authority executive director.
   The contract also calls for Rigging International to transport a crane from the port's Talleyrand Marine Terminal to Blount Island to provide temporary crane capacity for terminal operations. Despite the on-dock tangle of crane wreckage and being down to three undamaged gantry cranes, the terminal remains open and, according to the port, is handling cargo through the 'careful reallocation of the terminal's existing resources.'
   Rigging International, a nearly 50-year-old firm specializing in all aspects of heavy lift rigging and equipment, is expected to complete the work within four to six weeks.
   The Aug. 13 accident resulted from high winds during a thunderstorm that pushed one of the eight Blount Island gantry cranes several hundred feet along on-dock rails into a row of four others. The rolling crane collapsed along with the first crane impacted, and three others were damaged to varying degrees. The cranes were not being used at the time and no workers were in the area at the time of the incident.