Portainer (gantry Crane)
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A container crane (also container handling gantry crane or ship-to-shore crane) is a type of large dockside
gantry crane A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...
found at
container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
s for loading and unloading
intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode of transport, modes of trans ...
s from
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s. Container cranes consist of a supporting framework that can traverse the length of a
quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
or yard on a rail track. Instead of a hook, they are equipped with a specialized handling tool called a spreader. The spreader can be lowered on top of a container and locks onto the container's four locking points ("corner castings") using a
twistlock A twistlock or twist lock, together with matching corner castings, as defined in norms including ISO 1161:1984, form a standardized (rotating) connector system, for connecting and securing intermodal, and predominantly ISO-standard internatio ...
mechanism. Cranes normally transport a single container at once, but some newer cranes have the capability to pick up two to four 20-foot containers at once.


Types

There are two common types of container handling gantry crane: ''high profile,'' where the boom is hinged at the waterside of the crane structure and lifted in the air to clear the ships for navigation, and ''low profile,'' where the boom is shuttled toward and over the ship to allow the trolley to load and discharge containers. Low-profile cranes are used where they may be in the flight path of aircraft, such as where a container terminal is located close to an airport. The type of crane selected in
container terminal design process Container port design process is a set of correlated practices considered during container port design, aiming to transfer general business mission into detailed design documents for future construction and operation. The design process involves ...
is determined by the design vessel and local environment.


Sizes

Container cranes are generally classified by their lifting capacity and the size of the container ships they can load and unload.


Smaller sizes

Smaller container cranes, such as
straddle carrier A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unloa ...
s, are used at
railway sidings A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line, or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have light ...
to transfer containers from
flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...
s and
well car A well car, also known as a double-stack car (or also intermodal car/container car), is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers (shipping containers) used in intermodal freight transport. The "well" is a depresse ...
s to
semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a tracto ...
s or vice versa. Both the rolling stock and the trailers may pass under the base. Smaller container cranes are also used at
break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
transloading facilities.


Panamax

A
Panamax Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships travelling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...
crane can fully load and unload containers from a panamax class container ship capable of passing through the Panama Canal.


Post-Panamax

A "post-Panamax" crane can load and unload containers from a container ship too large (too wide) to pass through the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
.


Super-post-Panamax

The largest modern container cranes are classified as "super-post-Panamax". A modern container crane capable of lifting two long containers at once (end to end) under the telescopic spreader will generally have a rated lifting capacity of 65 tonnes. Some new cranes have a 120-tonne load capacity, enabling them to lift up to four or two containers. Cranes capable of lifting six 20-foot containers have also been designed. Post-Panamax cranes weigh approximately 800–900 tonnes, while the newer-generation super-post-Panamax cranes can weigh 1,600–2,000 tonnes. The largest Super-post-Panamax cranes have an outreach of 26 container rows.


Operation

The crane is driven by an operator who sits in a cabin suspended from the trolley. The trolley runs along rails located on the top or sides of the boom and girder. The operator runs the trolley over the ship to lift the cargo, usually containers. Once the spreader locks onto the container, the container is lifted, moved over the dock, and placed on a truck chassis (trailer) to be taken to the storage yard. The crane also lifts containers from chassis on the dock to load them onto the ship.
Straddle carrier A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unloa ...
s,
sidelift A sidelifter is a specialised vehicle or semi-trailer used to hoist and transport ISO standard intermodal containers over longer distances. Overview The sidelifter loads and unloads containers via a pair of hydraulic powered cranes mounted at ea ...
s,
reach stacker A reach stacker is a vehicle used for handling intermodal cargo containers in small terminals or medium-sized ports. Reach stackers are able to transport a container short distances very quickly and pile them in various rows depending on its acce ...
s, or container
lorries A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
then manoeuvre underneath the crane base and collect the containers, rapidly moving them away from the dock and to a storage yard.
Flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...
s or
well car A well car, also known as a double-stack car (or also intermodal car/container car), is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers (shipping containers) used in intermodal freight transport. The "well" is a depresse ...
s may also be loaded directly beneath the crane base.


Power

A crane can be powered by two types of
power supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a r ...
: a diesel engine–driven generator located on top of the crane or electric power from the dock. The most common is by electric power from the dock (also known as shore power). The voltage required may range from 4,000 to 13,200
volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...
s.


History

Cranes were used in harbors starting in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
(see crane: harbor usage and
list of historical harbour cranes The list of historical harbour cranes includes historical harbour cranes from the Middle Ages to the introduction of metal cranes in the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century. Modern reconstructions are also listed. References * * * ...
). Modern inter-modal
containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...
emerged in the mid-1950s from transport strategies developed in the Second World War and the Korean War, and the development of specialized cranes paralleled developments in containerization. The first container crane was built by Paceco (formerly the
Pacific Coast Engineering Company The Pacific Coast Engineering Company or PACECO is an American industrial fabricator and mechanical engineering company, and was previously a shipbuilding company in Oakland, California and then Alameda, California. To support the World War II ...
) for Matson at the Encinal Terminal in Alameda, California in 1959.


See also

*
Gantry crane A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...
*
Rubber tyred gantry crane A rubber tyred gantry crane / RTG (crane), or sometimes transtainer, is a wheeled mobile gantry crane operated to ground or stack intermodal containers. Inbound containers are stored for future pickup by drayage trucks, and outbound are stored f ...
*
Straddle carrier A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unloa ...


References


External links

* * {{Cranes Cranes (machines) Intermodal containers Port infrastructure