The biggest challenge in delivering cargo through the Great Lakes in winter is ice. Barnhart moved a 220,000 lb. knockout (KO) drum that was 72' long, 18' high and 21' wide to a refinery in Ohio in spite of adverse weather conditions. Barnhart loaded the drum onto a hopper barge at the Port of Catoosa to transport it by river to Chicago.
The low profile barge was required to pass under one of the bridges along the route and could be used only on inland waterways. It reached Chicago after only 19 days.
Barnhart's 550-ton Demag TC 3000 lattice boom crane offloaded the KO drum and loaded it onto an ABS-certified Barnhart deck barge for transport to the Port of Toledo. Barnhart faced a compressed window of opportunity to deliver the cargo in the Great Lakes area because of high winds and ice in the region. The barge and its tugboats encountered Mother Nature's polar vortex. Parts of the shipping lanes were frozen. Barnhart worked with US and Canadian Coast Guard ice cutters and, as a result of their collaboration, the team safely delivered the cargo.