Port

The Maryland Port Administration is completing its initial review of a multimillion-dollar proposal that would turn Baltimore harbor shipping channel muck into bucks. The plan might eventually replace time-tested dredge disposal methods of piling sediment along the waterline or using it to plug holes in eroding bay islands with a factory that bakes the goo into concrete aggregate for construction. Baltimore would be the first port to use the process. "We're getting ready to take the next step and it's an important step for Maryland," said port commissioner Ted Venetoulis.

Welcome, first day of fall. Much sympathy is extended to the family and friends of Mary Ann Dabravalskas, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer recently. Her funeral Mass was held at Good Shepherd Church Saturday. Mary Ann raised her family in Conowingo, moving to a smaller home in Port Deposit after her husband, John, passed away. She eventually downsized even further, moving to the Greenway senior complex in Perryville a few years ago. The Wellwood did a bang-up job at Good Shepherd School in Perryville Sunday by supplying hard crabs, fried chicken, pit beef and crab bisque for almost 200 Ravens/Eagles fans.

The state, city and CSX Transportation have tentatively selected the Mount Clare train yard in Southwest Baltimore for a roughly $90 million facility where containerized cargo would be transferred from trucks to trains, a project designed to improve the Port of Baltimore's efficiency. The project would help the port and CSX by allowing the railroad to bypass the more than century-old Howard Street Tunnel, which is too low for passage of trains with containers stacked two high. Such double-stacking of truck-sized shipping containers is the most cost-effective way to move them by rail.

Port Deposit: Late Grace Humphries helped found group to preserve Port's history No tanker truck accidents to comment on this week, but I understand that Port's Historic Area Commission has been under fire lately. The late Grace Humphries worked tirelessly on preserving Port's history by founding the Port Deposit Heritage Corporation in 1975 after watching many historic properties leveled to make way for parking lots throughout town. Grace's efforts and the subsequent efforts of the Port Deposit Heritage Corporation saved the Paw Paw Building, the Gerry House and 66 S. Main St. Today, HAC members advise homeowners regarding materials used on building facades and aid them in restoring Port's 19th century treasures.

The Port of Baltimore last month set a tonnage record for general cargo, which includes goods in containers, automobiles, forest products, and farm and construction equipment, the Maryland Port Administration announced Wednesday. "In Maryland, we have one of the best cargo ports in the nation, and that's good news for jobs and good news for strengthening and growing our economy," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a port administration news release. General cargo tonnage in July was up 24 percent over the previous month, the port administration said.

Port Deposit hopes to beef up traffic enforcement following Friday night's fatal crash and explosion of a loaded gasoline tanker truck. Repairs to utilities and other cleanup activities were largely wrapped up by Tuesday in the town after a tractor trailer crashed and became engulfed by fire Friday night, killing the truck driver, a Maryland man , Maryland State Police said. Mayor Wayne Tome said Monday he would be meeting with the Cecil County Sheriff's Office soon to help better enforce the restriction on trucks over five tons from entering the town.

A fuel tanker overturned and burst into flames in Port Deposit Friday night, officials said. The incident happened around 9:15 p.m. on Route 222 at Main Street, said Sgt. W.O. Jones of the Maryland State Police. The tanker hit "what appears to be a passenger vehicle," he said. Emergency crews were on the scene late Friday, and Main Street was blocked off, police said. Fire companies from Havre de Grace, Aberdeen and Darlington in Harford County were called in to help respond to the fire and fill in at Cecil County firehouses, said Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association spokesman Rich Gardiner.

Cargo handling at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore reached pre-recession levels for the first half of 2012, continuing a two-year surge in traffic, state officials announced Thursday. On the strength of roll-on/roll-off, vehicle and container business, a record 4.83 million tons of general cargo passed through the public terminals, besting the old mark of 4.69 million tons set in the first six months of 2008. The 2012 total is also 10 percent ahead of 2011 figures. The record traffic this year "proves that one of Maryland's main economic engines has fully bounced back from one of the most challenging economic periods in our country's history," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement.

For those of us who lived through the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972, the recent recollections in The Aegis and The Record brought back memories of those days from June 19 through June 24, 1972. For me, I was 20 years old and living over the Cash Loan Building in Havre de Grace, but my parents lived on South Main Street in Port Deposit and they owned Winchester's Bar and Restaurant at that time. On that particular Friday night, my husband, then-fiance Rick, was bartending for my dad at Winchester's right before the mandatory town-wide evacuation.

Each one weighs as much as 9,000 Tony Siragusas (the former Ravens defensive lineman) and at full extension rises as high as Baltimore's World Trade Center. Together, the port's four new cargo cranes are about to make a splash on the city's skyline. But first the gleaming white cranes, worth $40 million, must be rolled off the ship that brought them from China — without a splash. Coaxing them from the Zhen Hua 13 onto the dock requires delicate planning and brute force. Engineers and ironworkers at Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore's port have already unloaded two of the cranes and are ready to move the final two before the month is out. On Sunday, the first crane came rolling off. On Tuesday morning, the second crane crept across the ship's deck on railroad tracks and crossed the 8-foot watery gap between the ship and its berth.