Development

Spotlight: 840 feet of Wharf Reconstruction

Wharf Design

The new wharf comes complete with a dock system and design that accommodates the next generation of heavy lift cargo, such as General Electric generators, better prepare for the projected increase in volume of containerized cargo resulting from the Panama Canal expansion, and ensure reliable bulk product transfer.

Future use of the facility may include container-on barge operations and special heavy lift project cargo handling operations; hence, it is advantageous to provide for flexibility in the berth configuration to allow for bulk cargo, container movements, heavy cargo movement and a variety of potential other uses.

When regional manufacturers decide to move pieces of heavy equipment from their local plant by barge, the Port of Albany will be prepared to handle and transport these pieces of cargo with no challenge to the transportation timing and export.

Wharf Reconstruction

The new structure has been designed to provide a fully operational facility with a useful service life in excess of 50 years, requiring little to no maintenance for primary structural elements.

A feature of the new wharf is a roll-on, roll-off (“RoRo”) slip, which enables the loading and unloading of items that may be dimensionally too large or too heavy to utilize rail or truck transportation. The RoRo allows a barge to bring their load directly to the point of unloading without requiring separately sourcing a heavy-lift crane for unloading.

Following exploration of several design alternatives, project engineers and sponsors have established that construction of a pile-supported high level deck system, with cast-in-place concrete bent caps supporting precast concrete panels and composite cast-in-place concrete deck slab closures, combined with a high-modulus steel sheet pile cutoff wall with inclined pressure-injected rock anchors, is both fit for the project purpose, well-suited for the site and environmental conditions, and appropriate for operational and functional considerations.

Spotlight: On the Big Lift Warehouse

The Port constructed a climate-controlled, secure and modern 45,000 square foot facility with high ceilings and an open floor plan in 2019. This maritime heavy lift cargo operations building was built in an upland area of the port, with weight capacity to handle the weight and dimension of the new heavy lift cargo that is manufactured in the region, which is expected to grow. The project was planned to meet anticipated logistics and storage needs of regionally based international manufacturing companies that produce heavy lift or project cargo.

The dedicated Big Lift maritime warehouse is critical to the Port of Albany’s expanding capacity as a big lift and special cargo capable port. The path to the development of this structure has been a long time coming and is made possible by the State of New York and the Federal TIGER grant. The building fits into the overall plan to offer capacities to these unique cargo handling requirements, and to ensure that the regional manufacturers are able to move their goods to the worldwide marketplace.

For years, the Port of Albany has adapted to meet the needs of the regional economy and to be sure the region has access to the goods necessary for next levels of innovation and expanding commerce. The next generation of power units that are exported from the region to customers throughout the world are one example of this unique supply chain. The project was partially supported through a grant from Empire State Development, through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Councils.