February 7th , 2008: New E-Crane® begins operation at Kanawha River Plant - Kanawha River Plant is once again receiving much of its coal by barge thanks to the new E-Crane® that began operation at the plant in January. From its perch atop a newly-constructed river cell, the E-Crane, or equilibrium crane, uses its large capacity bucket to move coal from barges to the plant's coal yard. The equipment replaces the plant's original crane which was retired several years ago. (Click here for printer friendly version) Article from: AEP Now, an internal newsletter for AEP employees. (Thursday, February 7th 2008) Appalachian Power News GLASGOW, W.Va. -- Kanawha River Plant is once again receiving much of its coal by barge thanks to the new E-Crane that began operation at the plant in January. From its perch atop a newly-constructed river cell, the E-Crane, or equilibrium crane, uses its large capacity bucket to move coal from barges to the plant's coal yard. The equipment replaces the plant's original crane which was retired several years ago. " For some time now, we've had to rely exclusively on locally-available, truck-delivered coal, which means we often have 100 or so trucks in and out of here a day," said Joe Karrasch, plant manager. "The E-Crane expands our fuel options and fuel delivery options in an ever-changing market." Kanawha River's crane is the fifth such crane in operation across the AEP System. The first was installed in December 2004 at Tanners Creek Plant in Lawrenceburg, Ind., which unloads coal from Ohio River barges. Other locations with various models of E-Cranes include: * Cardinal Plant in Brilliant, Ohio (installed November 2007 for limestone); * Mountaineer Plant in New Haven, W.Va. (installed November 2006 for limestone and gypsum); * Mitchell Plant in Moundsville, W.Va. (installed January 2007 for limestone and gypsum). E-Cranes are being fabricated for OVEC/IKEC's Kyger Creek Plant in Ohio and Clifty Creek Plant in Indiana, both for limestone unloading. The E-Crane is produced by E-Crane International in Adagem, Belgium. The crane's design features an ingenious parallelogram-style boom that provides a direct mechanical connection between the counterweight and the load. Compared to conventional cranes that require as much as 80 percent of their available energy just to move the boom, the E-Crane principle results in significantly lower maintenance and operating costs, according to the company.     Kanawha River Plant's E-Crane® in action. Photo By: Phil Moye     About E-Crane Worldwide (Indusign) E-Crane® Worldwide provides design services as well as complete machine production, erection, support, and training with on-going service for the steel industry. E-Crane is a modern, state-of-the-art engineering and heavy equipment construction company, located at Adegem, Belgium. The flexibility of the organization assures rapid response to changes, excellent product quality and short delivery times. Over the past several years, the E-Crane product line has been updated and completed and is now supported worldwide by a dealer and service organization. The product line is modular in design allowing "standard" designs and components to be put together into a "custom" solution to meet the customer’s needs. E-Crane is the world leader for large scrap handling machines with an outreach from 24 to 45 meters. Website: www.indusign.be or www.ecrane.eu About E-Crane International USA (ECI-USA) E-Crane International USA is focused and committed to the E-Crane® product line. ECI-USA provides engineering, sales, marketing, product, spare parts, and management services for the support of present and future sales of the E- Crane® in North and South America. Website: www.ecrane-usa.com     Source: AEP Now, an internal newsletter for AEP employees. (Thursday, February 7th 2008)     Updates and Maintenance by E-Crane Worldwide . Contact Webmaster! . ©1999-2008 E-Crane Worldwide / Indusign . Koekoeklaan 53. B-9991 Adegem. Belgium . >>>> EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTS BY EXTRA ORDINARY PEOPLE <<<<