The Henderson County Riverport Authority held a ribbon cutting to mark the arrival of a new Sennebogen electric material handler and the official opening of a bulk dock for direct port operations at its facility in western Kentucky on the Ohio River.
The $2.2 million infrastructure project got underway two years ago and officially came online earlier this year. The port funded the project primarily through grants. The authority received a $1.5 million grant through the Kentucky Public Riverport Construction and Maintenance program toward the purchase of its Sennebogen 865E electric material handler. A second round of funding provided the $532,000 to complete the purchase.
A Kentucky Riverport Improvement grant provided just over $76,000 to support work at the bulk dock, with a $19,000 match from the port. The Henderson County Riverport Authority then invested $74,134 to upgrade electrical service at the dock.
“This investment significantly increases our operational capacity and efficiency,” said Ben Weithman, executive director of the riverport authority, when the dock and material handler came online. “By reducing seasonal bottlenecks, our customers benefit from lower demurrage costs. Moving bulk unloading off the main dock also helps extend the service life of our 40-year-old, 125-ton cable crane, which has been the backbone of riverport operations for decades.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony included remarks from Rocky Adkins, Henderson County Judge Brad Schneider, State Rep. J.T. Payne, and State Sen. Robby Mills.
