United States Transportation Command

FORT EUSTIS, Va. (USTCNS) --- A leader in military traffic management innovations, the Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point N.C., is the testing site for the latest incarnation of a piece of equipment that could reduce the time it takes to load containers onto ships.

The terminal served as the host as an engineering design firm demonstrated its Direct Access Rail to Ship (DARTS) spreader bar and the bar's use. The DARTS spreader bar is capable of lifting two 20-foot containers simultaneously. In addition, the spreader can end-shift its load plus or minus 18 inches.

The devise also has videotaping capabilities that allow the crane operator to see different angles of the cargo being lifted. That helps the locomotive engineer spot the containers making it easier for the crane operator to avoid any bumps against the ship or other objects during lifting operations.

Soldiers and civilians of the 597th Transportation Group, the spreader bar designers, as well as members of the Center for Commercial Deployment Transportation Technologies, believe the spreader bar has a place in both the military and the commercial industry.

CCDoTT is a DOD-funded consortium of public, private, and academic activities that seeks to leverage commercial technologies in solving defense transportation infrastructure problems; conduct research and development for defense transportation infrastructure initiatives; and provide a technology transfer/dual use bridge between the DOD and commercial world.

U. S. Transportation Command and the Maritime Administration are the technical managers for CCDoTT.

"This spreader bar is a great opportunity to leverage commercial technology and to enhance commercial container operations," said Lt. Col. Matthew Gorevin, a concepts and technology analyst in the U.S. Transportation Command's Strategy & Policy Division, Concepts and Technology Team.

"The spreader bar was first demonstrated at Sunny Point almost two years ago and it has been in use here since then. Talking to the people down here that use the spreader bar and getting their reaction to it tells us that they like it. This is a good CCDoTT success story."

The demonstration was set up to show the productivity-enhancements possible using the direct rail-to-ship transfer capabilities of the DART system and how the technology can be used within the commercial industry.

The spreader bar was completed after numerous meetings and design proposals. Once completed, the spreader bar was delivered to the Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point for use in July 1998.

"The idea behind the spreader bar is to develop a means to ensure containers of various dimensions can be placed directly onto a ship," said Larry Branch, 597th Transportation Group, Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point. "The bar would allow containers of different sizes to be removed from railcars and placed on board the vessel as soon as they arrive."

Presently, containers of various sizes and widths have to be segregated upon arrival and loaded with like sizes. The bar would adapt and shift to allow immediate loading of the shipment. This may save time in the processing of the equipment and in the loading of the containers onto the vessel.

The actual amount of time saved differs with each loadout and depends on how many containers and what type of containers are being loaded.

According to Gorevin, the spreader bar's greatest boon to the military could be its use during sustainment operations.

"Sustainment operations are typically run out of commercial facilities; if adopted for use, the spreader bar could speed up loading container ships," he said. Any equipment that can decrease loading times is viable to the transportation industry is something to be looked at." (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND, DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

Direct Access Rail to Ship (DARTS) spreader bar demonstrated

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