Page 42: of Marine News Magazine (June 2015)

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SHORTSEA SHIPPING

The ‘Greening’ of America’s

Marine Highways

Ingram Barge Company sees two kinds of green in their newest venture on the inland rivers.

By Joseph Keefe n late March, the Paducah-McCracken County Riv- erport Authority and Ingram Barge Company an-

I nounced plans to assess the viability of Intermodal

River Transportation, utilizing the largest ? at-top crane in North America and Ingram’s towboats and barges. On

March 27th, that plan came to life as the Paducah River- port Authority’s 200-ton crane lifted 54 empty contain- ers and stacked them neatly on an Ingram-owned barge.

An Ingram towboat then transported the container laden barge to the port of St. Louis and then back to Paducah for unloading. The highly successful trial run tested the logistics of moving the intermodal containers via barge in the nation’s heartland.

Ingram Barge Company, better known as a transporter of bulk products and commodities on the inland rivers, owns and operates 140 towboats and nearly 5,000 barges.

The intermodal container move via barge now opens up a world of other opportunities and options – not only for

Ingram, but also for shippers, environmental reform pro- ponents and everyday users of the roadways that will see less traf? c, if and when the ? edgling enterprise takes ? ight.

From the start, commencing the ? rst voyage from Pa- ducah made a lot of sense. Located at the con? uence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, the inland hub also boasts the right equipment to be a major container port serving this new market. With the U.S. Maritime Administration predicting that the nation will need to move an additional 14 billion tons of cargo by 2050 in order to accommodate population growth, it is clear that the future intermodal picture will need to include inland rivers as a key compo- nent. Ingram’s bold test run, which ended in April, cer- tainly demonstrated the viability of the concept.

According to Ingram, a standard Jumbo Hopper barge

Photo credit: Glenn Hall Photography

June 2015 42 MN