Middle River Marine Takes Delivery of Liebherr LH110

By Katherine Petrik CEG EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

MovingmaterialandgoodsaroundChicagocanbeacostly venture, in both money and time. Middle River Marine, a marine and terminal business, handles bulk material for the construction, agricultural and industrial industries. The company was founded in 1998 to support and vertically integrate its parent company, Ozinga, a supplier of ready-mix concrete.

Serving the Illinois and northwest Indiana markets, Middle River Marine began operations as a logistics coordinator on the Great Lakes and inland river system. It currently operates 10 tugboats and 88 barges, primarily in the Chicagoland area.

“We’ve run the Calumet River to Lemont [about 41 mi.] to the Chicago River [about 18 mi.] in the city,” said Mike Hogan, vice president of marine operations of Middle River Marine. “We’ll go as far south as our sand mine in Henry, Ill. [about 125 mi.].”

Improving Operations

Recently, Middle River Marine decided it was time to upgrade its material handler. While its 20-year-old Liebherr R984 was still operational and has done a great job for the company, a new machine would increase productivity and uptime.

see MRM page 80