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| Tue, Nov. 24 - - Mobile - RSS | |
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Beer tanks roll in on river
Massive tanks piling up along the Rappahannock in King George bound for Coors beer plant in Shenandoah Valley
Date published: 11/4/2005
By RUSTY DENNEN One by one, they've appeared mysteriously in a field next to the Rappahannock River off State Route 3 in King George County: massive, rocket-ship-like cylinders, lined up nose to tail. The 19- by 70-foot stainless steel tanks--each weighing 78,000 pounds--have nothing to do with the nation's space program, though passers-by could be excused for imagining that's where they're headed. These have a much more satisfying and down-to-earth purpose: making beer. The fermentation tanks, manufactured in Ziemann, Germany, are on the latest leg of a long and complicated journey to the Coors Brewing Co. beer plant at Elkton in the Shenandoah Valley. "They're gigantic, pretty awesome looking," said Joyce Dussling, manager of Aggregate Industries' Mid-Atlantic plant in King George. Aggregate Industries, which leases mineral rights from Farmer Edward Taylor, has a dock suitable for barges and is one of the few spots upriver with water deep enough to accommodate them. Altogether 40 tanks will arrive there. The tanks were shipped from Europe to Hampton Roads and were supposed to go up the James River, and then overland to Elkton. Then shippers turned their attention to the Rappahannock and docks at Totuskey Creek, downriver in Richmond County. A closer look at the charts revealed an upriver landing in King George. Two barges carrying five tanks each were unloaded last week and two more arrived this week. The latest shipment came in yesterday morning. Four more barges will be arriving in the coming weeks. It takes a crew of nine men over an hour to unload each one. "You have to make sure the barge is stable; that's the hardest part," said Grover Nash, supervisor for Lockwood Brothers Inc., the Hampton company responsible for transporting the tanks to Elkton. Big tanks require a big trailer to move them, in this case, a 96-wheel Goldhofer hydraulic flat bed trailer capable of carrying up to 360 tons. The trailer was backed up a ramp to the barge and under giant pallets supporting each tank. Once secured on the trailer, the tank was ready for the slow trip to the storage area nearby. Lockwood specializes in big jobs, Nash said, some much bigger than this.
Date published: 11/4/2005
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