Port of Longview performs ship-to-rail transfer of wind blades

The Port of Longview, Wash., has discharged wind energy blades directly from ship to train, the port announced earlier this week.

The port is the first in the United States to do so, port officials said in a press release.

The 160-foot blades were moved to flat-bed rail cars next to the vessel with the port's two Liehberr mobile harbor cranes. Each blade required two rail cars.

The blades were manufactured by Vestas and are bound for a wind energy farm in Illinois.

"Strategic investments in both equipment and rail, combined with an experienced labor force, have made the Port of Longview a leader in breakbulk cargo handling," said the Port Business Development Manager Laurie Nelson-Cooley. "Executing this groundbreaking operation really emphasizes our capabilities to our customers."