BairdMaritime (Ships&Shipping.com)
USA: Portable milling machine to repair Markland Locks
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
USA: More than US$11.6 billion a year worth of commerce pass through the Markland Locks and Dams on the Ohio River, representing approximately 55 million tonnes of goods, including coal, grain, iron, and steel.
It takes approximately 2,400 tows to carry this amount through the lock chamber. When the locks needed to be refurnished, the Army Corps of Engineers began looking for a solution that would not disrupt the flow of shipping and that could replace its current repair process which was costly and time-consuming.
CLIMAX Portable Machine Tools received the contract to design and build a portable milling machine, the best technical- and cost-effective solution for refurbishing the Markland Locks on the Ohio River within a stringent timeframe.
The award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which earmarked money for the Army Corps of Engineers for construction projects.
The Ohio River Project calls for refurbishing the lock doors and door quoins, which are the sealing surfaces between the lock wall and the steel lock doors. Over time, frequent repairs to the gates had left surfaces uneven.
CLIMAX won the contract to design, fabricate and fully test two large scale, custom-made vertical milling machines capable of traveling up to 21 meters in height in a single pass, removing up to 3.8cm of materials over multiple passes and that could also drill and tap.
This milling machine not only will enable machinists to smooth the structures’ surfaces so they will operate better and not leak but also to complete the repairs on site within the 17-day timeframe required by the Corps.
For further information contact:
CLIMAX Portable Machining & Welding Systems
1-503-538-2185
Email: [email protected]
Web: climaxportable.com