Lafarge North America has 39,000 tons of cement stockpiled at the

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Jan 4, 2008 by Sean Ryan

Lafarge North America has roughly 39,000 tons of cement stockpiled at the Port of Milwaukee.

Bruce Scott, Lafarge's senior terminal manager at the port, hopes that stockpile lasts until March.

Every winter, the barges that carry cement to Milwaukee dock in a harbor and wait for the ice to thaw. Lafarge gets its shipments from Alpena, which is on Michigan's eastern coast along Lake Huron, and the 30-hour trip requires that ships pass under the Mackinac Bridge and through the narrow straight separating northern Michigan from its Upper Peninsula.

Although the freeze came relatively late this year, there comes a point when the icebreakers can't do the job, and the shipments must stop, Scott said.

"I've seen them run as late as the end of January," he said. "The real limiting factor is the straights and how much they ice up."

One of the two barges Lafarge uses, the Integrity, is already docked at the Port of Milwaukee, and the Innovation will settle there in mid-January, Scott said. To ensure the cement supply lasts, both ships carry a full load of 1,500 tons for the final trip and Lafarge fills its terminal, which can handle 36,000 tons.

"Typically," Scott said, "it'll last."

The Port of Milwaukee received 421,015 metric tons of cement in 2006, a 21 percent increase over 2005's numbers, said Betty Nowak, marketing manager for the port. The numbers were lower in 2007, with the port receiving 307,000 tons of cement through October, she said. Those figures include shipping for Lafarge and St. Marys Cement Inc., both of which lease property from the port.

Scott said the increased shipping in 2006 was due to the Marquette Interchange project, and he said he hoped numbers would go back up some big projects on the horizon.

"We're hopeful in (the north-south Interstate 94 project)," he said, "and we're hopeful the housing market rebounds a little."

Lafarge receives about 60 cement shipments a year, but those deliveries don't always require a full boatload. Since the Port of Milwaukee is deeper than other Lake Michigan ports, ships stop there first to drop off some cement and lighten their load before heading to shallower harbors, like the Waukegan Harbor in Illinois, Scott said.

The two-month winter break in port lets the ships' owners, Andrie Transportation Group, Muskegon, Mich., do repairs so the ships can run nonstop when the weather breaks.

"This year they've had some down time due to maintenance issues," Scott said, "but the intent is to get her done during winter."

Milwaukee-based Midwest Maritime is doing the repairs on the Integrity and Innovation this year. Tom Balistreri, president of Midwest Maritime, said he sends his employees out with the boats before the freeze to inspect them and see what work they need.

His crew hasn't been able to start work yet, but the Integrity will need a gearbox overhaul and some more routine maintenance.

"The thing just came in, so the crew is still on it taking this out," said Balistreri, talking on Thursday from his cell phone while piloting a tug boat in the harbor.

Balistreri said each large ship needs at least $500,000 per year in maintenance work. He said the work keeps a couple dozen of his employees busy each winter, but there's also a series of specialists coming in from manufacturers around the world to fix individual parts in the boats.

On top of the Integrity and Innovation, the Port of Milwaukee is waiting for two larger ships to come in for the winter. The 1,000- foot-long coal and ore barge Stewart J. Cort will arrive around Jan. 11, and the 1,000-foot Burns Harbor, which carries iron ore pellets, will show up a few days later.

Balistreri said there used to be more than four ships in Milwaukee, but the boats are bigger these days.

"Years ago," he said, "we used to pack them in here pretty lively."