RESERVE — Engineering students from Louisiana State University recently toured the facilities at Globalplex Intermodal Terminal located in Reserve.

LSU Civil Engineering Instructor Clovis Morrison, P.E., enlightened students on the design and engineering techniques involved in the construction of maritime infrastructure.

The structural engineering students from LSU in Baton Rouge are currently studying various port-related structures such as piers, wharves and docks.

Tidal variations pose the biggest obstacle to engineering students involved in the design of dock platforms, roadway platforms, and fender panels required in the commercial maritime industry.

Globalplex’s 680′ long x 204′ wide General Cargo Dock operates two (2) Manitowoc heavy-duty electrically powered cranes mounted on rails and was configured to handle Panamax-size ships and barges carrying bulk, break-bulk, neo-bulk, or containerized cargo.

The 335-acre industrial park also contains an additional Bulk Dock, two uniquely designed 50,000 ton cement storage domes operated by Kinder-Morgan, 177,000 s.f. of open lay down storage, and warehousing/transit shed facilities for transshipment by vessel, barge, truck or rail.

The tour also included a visit to the construction site of the terminal’s new 72,000 s.f. transit shed/ warehouse facility designed to handle dock related transshipments by truck or rail simultaneously.

A new internal roadway was constructed with a load bearing capacity equal to interstate highway standards (HS-20) of approximately 80,000 lbs. for heavy cargo shipments.

The engineering students have also received instruction in areas concerning Facility Planning, Waterways (Hydro and Environmental), Vessel Characteristics, Marine Structure Layout, and Pile Driving Construction Methods.