Grain and agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker has built out the mooring structures at its Lake Huron grain terminal to allow “all configurations” of boats to load and unload there.
The Winnipeg company announced Friday it has completed a new mooring dolphin at its terminal at Goderich, Ont., as well as a new vessel-loading spout designed to cut down on dust emissions.
A “dolphin” refers to an isolated structure built on piles at a port terminal, allowing a facility to accept longer vessels where it’s impractical to build out a pier, wharf or shoreline.
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The dolphin structure is used to secure and stabilize a longer vessel attending a terminal as it loads or discharges cargo, and also allows for safer manoeuvring by larger vessels in the harbour area.
P+H said it reworked its “entire site layout” at Goderich for the mooring dolphin project, noting “extensive collaboration” between the company, Goderich town staff and Goderich Port Management Corp. on the design.
The terminal’s new vessel-loading spout, meanwhile, uses digital sensors to monitor and control grain flow at the discharge end.
From the deck, P+H said, its operators are thus able to manage a “concentrated cylinder” of grain, placing it much closer to the bottom of the vessel and “reducing unwanted dust emissions.”
The Goderich terminal, which P+H has owned since 2012 when it took over Ontario grain handler Thirdcoast, is served by Canadian National Railway and has 105,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity.
P+H describes the site as a “vital link” for southwestern Ontario producers to export grain, as well as to move eastbound wheat from the Prairies to Ontario flour mills.
“These two significant investments will allow P+H to handle increasing volumes of Canadian grain while doing so in an environmentally responsible manner,” Matt Gardner, P+H’s director of Ontario terminal operations, said Friday in a release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
