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Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas● 1225 Main Street ● Beaumont, Texas 77701 ●● (409) 835-5367 ● (409) 835-0512 FAX ●
Online at www.portofbeaumont.com
THIS ISSUE:
(Air)Port of Beaumont Snow as ammoPort scenes
Port ready to navigaterough economic seas
The head-lines have beendismal in recentmonths as abundle of eco-nomic crisesripple throughworld markets.Despite thedownturn, thePort of Beaumont continues fullsteam ahead with nearly $60 millionin strategic improvements—basedon sound, bold vision—that will helpthe port weather the market stormsthat may appear on the horizon.The last quarter of 2008 sawcompletion of a new $5.4 millionmilitary office building to consolidatemilitary staff at the port into oneoperations center.The port kicked off 2009 with thearrival of a new, $5.3 million, 140-ton mobile harbor crane. Our $16million rail expansion project willalso get under way this year.By the end of 2009, the port willhave a new 650-foot wharf on theeast bank of the Sabine-NechesWaterway with an adjoining 20-acrestorage yard.The port always actively seeksadditional business and these im-provements are attractive assets topotential customers. As thesechanges take effect we are optimis-tic that the port will be properly posi-tioned to come through this eco-nomic downturn and emergestronger and in an even better posi-tion to serve our community.
David C. Fisher Director, Port of Beaumont
Homeport security
New military building boasts latest storm– and terror-resistant designs
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R, 2ndDistrict of Texas) and U.S. ArmyCol. Craig B. Hymes – com-mander of the U.S. Surface De-ployment and Distribution Com-mand’s 597
th
TransportationGroup – joined state and localofficials to officially open the Portof Beaumont’s new military officebuilding during a Nov. 13 cere-mony.The two-story, 27,000 square-foot building was completed inOctober at a cost of about $5.4million. The facility will serve asheadquarters for the U.S. Sur-face Deployment and DistributionCommand’s 842nd
Transporta-tion Battalion.The battalion is part of thecommand’s 597
th
TransportationGroup, which is tasked with sup-plying military equipment andresources to sustain U.S. forcesin action worldwide.The new building consolidatesmilitary personnel at the port andprovides training and growthopportunities. The facility’s com-pletion also brings the battalionin compliance with the U.S. De-partment of Defense’s force pro-tection and security require-ments, battalion commander U.S. Army Lt. Col. Marshall Ram-sey said.“In the post-9/11 world, extrasecurity is required of all Depart-ment of Defense activities,” Ram-sey said prior to the ceremony.“Previously, with our split postureand our location next to MainStreet, we were not meeting therequirements.”The office building is fortifiedwith the latest anti-terrorist con-struction methods includingcrash-resistant fencing andgates, said architect DohnLabiche, principal with theLaBiche Architectural Group,who designed the structure. Thebuilding is also has hurricane-resistant window systems andcan handle wind loads of up to150 mph, Labiche said.The office building is one of several projects in the port’saggressive capital improvementprogram worth nearly $60 million.Others include a new wharf onthe east side of the Sabine-Neches Waterway and a new $5million 140-ton harbor crane.
HEADQUARTERS:
Ceremony attendees tour the port’s new military office building in November. The $5.4 mil-lion facility houses the U.S. Surface Deployment and Distribution Command’s 842nd Transportation Battalion.
Continued on page 7
Port fortifies military ties with new building
Fisher
Director’s note
2
SOARING INTO HISTORY:
Crew members look on as the Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT takes flight from Lot. No. 10 at the Port of Beaumonton October 17 en route to a layover at the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Nederland. The moment marked the first Zeppelin flight inU.S. skies since the
Hindenburg’s
fiery crash at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey in 1937.
(Photo by Image Specialists)
PORT ENTERS AVIATION HISTORY
3
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship first designed by German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The firstZeppelin flew in 1900, and the airships were used both during peacetime and war until they went out of use at the start of World War II. The next Zeppelin test flights took place in Germany in 1997. Commercial service began there in 2001
.
Source:
Zeppelin
, online interactive from the University of Colorado at Boulder
TOP:
Longshoremen and crews with DeutscheZeppelin Reederei load the Zeppelin NT ontothe
M.V. Combi Dock I
in Finkenwerder, Ger-many in September. After more than twoweeks at sea, the Zeppelin arrived at the Portof Beaumont on Oct. 11.
ABOVE:
The Zeppelin traveled from Germanyto the Port of Beaumont stowed in the cargohold of the
M.V. Combi Dock I
. The ship wasturned to align with the port’s RO/RO ramp andsome containers were removed before theZeppelin and accompanying parts could beoffloaded.
RIGHT:
Longshoremen offload one of the Zep-pelin’s rudders from the cargo hold of the
M.V.Combi Dock I
.
ABOVE:
Crew members check the ropes har-nessing the Zeppelin NT before they roll it outfrom the
M.V. Combi Dock I.
BELOW:
Zeppelin pilot
Fritz Günther
monitorsthe winds. Wind speeds had to average lessthan 10 mph for a smooth rollout.
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