Intermodal begins in SSM.Intermodal shipping is taking its first fledgling steps in Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. with a new 60,000-square-foot terminal in the city's west end. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The $3 million Sault Intermodal Inc. is the city's first terminal and distribution warehouse with a dozen loading bays and 3,500 feet of track connected to the Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) Railways. Beginning in July, local businessman and Great Lakes Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combined surface area of c.95,000 sq mi (246,050 sq km). marine operator Jack Purvis For the actor of this name, see . Jack Purvis (December 11, 1906 – March 30, 1962) was an American jazz musician.[1] Purvis was best known as a trumpet player and the composer of Dismal Dan and Down Georgia Way. began storing Kraft and fine paper products from Marathon Pulp Inc. and St. Marys Paper in the warehouse while he continues to promote his new facility to Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it shippers. The terminal is situated on 15 acres of property between Algoma Steel and the city's newly completed truck corridor, which connects Highway 17 to the International Bridge. The City of Sault Ste. Marie has been studying and promoting the idea of attracting West Coast rail container traffic destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for U.S. markets through the Sault. It's hoped major shippers, frustrated by container terminal delays and congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. at southern Ontario border points, might be interested in faster transportation alternatives. Purvis, who sits on the City's multimodal Two or more modes of operation. The term is used to refer to a myriad of functions and conditions in which two or more different methods, processes or forms of delivery are used. On the Web, it refers to asking for something one way and receiving the answer another; for example requesting committee, volunteered to invest his own money to erect the terminal and get the Sault's transportation hub concept off the ground. A rail spur running into his building can accommodate up to seven railway box or flatbed cars, with more loading and unloading space on the outside of the terminal. Servicing the facility are six forklifts ranging from 5,000 pounds to 70,000 pounds lifting capacity. In anticipation of large volumes in the future, Purvis says the building has been constructed to allow for expansion to the west onto an adjoining property he owns. A new 100-metre rail spur will be built across the city's truck route to connect his Cathcart Street facility with the Canadian Pacific-Huron Central line running east to Sudbury. The $247,000 project is being funded in a three-way deal between the City of Sault Ste. Marie, FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is a division of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in the Canadian province of Ontario, whose purpose is to provide funding and program support to foster economic development in the economically disadvantaged Northern Ontario region. Corp. But Canadian National, which operates the former Algoma Central Railway The Algoma Central Railway (AAR reporting marks AC, ACIS) was a railway in Northern Ontario that ran between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst, with a branch line to Michipicoten. The area served by the railway is sparsely populated, with few roads. running north to their main cross-Canada line at Oba, hasn't given its overwhelming blessing to the idea of moving containers away from its existing systems to the Sault. Purvis says container traffic is something his customers have been talking quite often about, but to encourage CN to get on board, there must be large volumes of freight moving through the Sault. "We can bring containers on flatbed cars but to really make it economical, it has to come in double-decked." Purvis says his current focus is not on handling containers just yet, but "cross-dock" opportunities in transferring forestry and mining products from rail to truck. He acknowledges that he is talking to interested forestry fibreboard fibreboard Noun a building material made of compressed wood Noun 1. fibreboard - wallboard composed of wood chips or shavings bonded together with resin and compressed into rigid sheets fiberboard, particle board and paper producers, but can't disclose any details. Besides providing U. S. access for Northern Ontario shippers, he's also interested in attracting westbound freight traffic incoming connecting the Port of Montreal to shippers in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Purvis, who operates one of the largest tug and barge services on the Great Lakes, says he's had inquiries from across the North about moving freight from rail to ship. His largest vessel is capable of carrying 450 twenty-foot equivalent units of containers aboard his 9,000-tonne capacity barge. "We've been entertaining (containers) since we've been approached by different shippers to see if we'd be interested." Most of his current barge work involves hauling Algoma Steel coils south to Windsor and Chicago, with slabs coming upbound from Hamilton. While shipping containers on the Great Lakes remains at the conceptual stage, Purvis believes there are "several billion dollars" worth of product that moves both ways between Minnesota and the European market. By IAN ROSS Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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