RIVER PORT
A Riverport in East Tennessee? Absolutely!
At Mile 652 on the Tennessee River, Burkhart Enterprises offers its clients a gateway to world commerce. The BEI barge terminal transfers approximately 500,000 tons of bulk commodities per year.
The loaded barges that arrive are off loaded using two large excavators equipped with clamshell buckets. A 1250 Komatsu & a 1000 Komatsu. A 100 ton Northwest crane is also available for the more heavy lifting.Various other equipment such as loaders, tandem trucks & fork lifts augment the barging operation.
Over the years, barging has been the preferred method for transporting bulk material. It is estimated that large quantities of cargo can be moved by barge for one-third the cost of rail & one-fifth the cost of trucking. Barging cargo demonstrates “Economy of Scale”. One eight barge tow, the standard on the Tennessee River, equals 466 semi-trailer loads.
RAIL FACILITY
The rail facilities at BEI are served by the Norfolk Southern & Knoxville Holston River Railroad. The rail yard consists of two sidings of 1,000 FT each that will accommodate 32 rail cars. A portion of this track runs alongside the warehouse and affords a “dry dock” transfer of cargo during inclement weather. The other track is used to load/unload gondolas & flatbed cars. The rail facility also includes a “bottom dump pit” for unloading hopper cars.
Our rail address is, “NS to KXHR Burkhart yard.”
HIGHWAY TRANSPORT
Truck transportation is a major operation at Burkhart Enterprises. This part of organization supports all our other operations & brings them together as a cohesive process.
We operate 35 to 40 over the road trucks powered by late model Mack power units. Our trailers include end dumps, with roll tarps, Van-go covered flatbeds, standard flatbeds, pneumatic tank trailers for dry bulk material, standard van trailers & extendable flatbeds.
LOW WATER WHARF
Our low water wharf upstream of the barge area offers a large staging area to “Heavy Haul” contractors. This is the perfect place to transfer large oversize and/or over weight cargo like pressure vessels, steel beams, containment structures, etc.. Our location in Knoxville affords easy access to Upper East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southeast Kentucky, Southeast Virginia & Western South Carolina.
STORAGE CAPABILITIES
Burkhart Enterprises built this 24,000 square foot warehouse to compliment the transportation aspects of the company and complete the “Logistics” concept we have. This facility is available for all appropriate items including food products. This warehouse offers a “dry” dock feature to the rail siding for working in inclement weather.
The storage dome is located near the barge area & can accommodate approximately 5000 tons of dry bulk material, like fertilizer, gypsum, sand, & other weather sensitive products.
In addition to dry storage, BEI offers acres of outside storage for material like salt, scrap metal, coal, coke, landscape aggregate, coil rod.
