BNSF Railway shows off new all-electric cranes

Six stories above the Seattle waterfront, peering through a glass floor at trucks and cargo containers below, Lee Marlenee drove a new $3 million crane, one of the first all-electric, state-of-the-art, wide-span cargo cranes in North America.

Equipped with computers, lasers and anti-sway mechanisms that allow them to operate in high winds, the new cranes are faster, more efficient and less polluting than older, diesel cranes. They even turn their bathroom waste into ashes.

"It's just exhilarating to drive," said Marlenee, a veteran operator. "Basically you're looking at the next generation of cranes."

Four new cranes were on display Thursday as their owner, BNSF Railway, showed off its latest innovation for serving the Port of Seattle and its customers. The cranes are part of the railroad's $50 million investment in a new Seattle International Gateway yard, south of Safeco Field in Sodo.

The cranes and new 18-acre rail yard will allow BNSF to move about 40 percent more cargo containers on and off trains each year. "It's important that if we grow, we grow green," BNSF Executive Vice President Roger Nober said about the cranes, which do not emit greenhouse gases.

Most of the rail yard's inbound freight is consumer goods from China — from toys and bluejeans to iPods and tennis shoes — headed to Chicago. "If you buy it at Target, it comes here," said Terminal Manager Charles Reed.

Manufactured by Konecranes of Finland, the orange cranes stand 87 feet tall and 152 feet wide. They run on rail tracks, and their wide stance allows them to straddle trains, tractor-trailer trucks and stacked containers at the same time. Seattle is the first city in North America to get the cranes.

Seattle City Councilmember Jan Drago said the new cranes and rail yard will strengthen Seattle's competitive position as a trading port. "They do more work, faster and more efficiently, and they do it without burning fossil fuel," she said.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com