10:20 AM:A ship carrying three new container cranes arrived at the Port of Oakland this morning after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge with more room to spare than officials had anticipated.
The three 253-foot-tall cranes arrived from Shanghai, China, and had to be folded over to pass cleanly under the bridges. The maneuvers had to be coordinated with local transportation agencies and were based upon tides and other safety factors.
Port spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur said there was more room than expected at both bridges.
“We actually thought it could be as tight as 4 feet, so it went very smoothly,” Sandifur said. “We’re very pleased about that.”
The vessel carrying the cranes, the Zhen Hua 15, passed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 8:30 a.m. with about 14 feet of clearance and the Bay Bridge at about 9:15 a.m. with about 9 feet of space.
The California Highway Patrol ran traffic breaks on the Bay Bridge for about 15 to 20 minutes as the cranes approached that bridge.
With the three new cranes, the Port of Oakland will have a total of 22 Super-Post Panamax cranes, according to port officials. Evergreen Marine Corporation, one of the port’s tenants, purchased the new cranes, Sandifur said.
The cranes weigh 1,500 tons each and are large enough to accommodate container ships that are too wide to pass through the Panama Canal.
They are anchored to the docks and have booms large enough to reach across a 24-container vessel, Sandifur said. Containers are about 8 feet wide, she said.
The cranes will likely translate to new jobs because they increase the amount of cargo the port can move, Sandifur said.
Cargo is unloaded by longshore workers before being transported by truck or rail. It might go through a distribution warehouse or be taken out of its container and repacked for local distribution.
The cranes, which can cost up to $10 million each, were ordered about a year ago.
The Oakland seaport is the fifth busiest in the United States, according to port officials. Sandifur said it moves the equivalent of 2 million 20-foot containers each year.
8:45 AM: A ship carrying three new container cranes is passing under the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge this morning on its way to the Port of Oakland.
The 253-foot-tall cranes are arriving from Shanghai, China. The ship went under the Golden Gate Bridge at about 8:30 a.m. It was set to pass under the Bay Bridge at about 9:15 a.m.
Crews had to fold the cranes so they could fit under the bridges, and their arrival time was determined by the tide and other safety considerations.
