Removing a section of the 80-year-old trestle will help Midcontinent Terminal grow and create new jobs in Thunder Bay.
THUNDER BAY – Demolition work begins this week on a portion of the former CNR iron ore dock trestle located along Thunder Bay’s waterfront.
Midcontinent Terminal, the local business that owns the site, stated that taking down about 400 feet of the 1,200-foot-long trestle will allow it to increase its ability to handle project cargo such as industrial plant components, steel products, and other large shipments.
“The trestle that’s sitting on the dock was designed for a very specific purpose, and that was for loading iron ore,” project manager Matej Rodela said Feb. 17. “That structure basically acts as a wall, so we cannot receive big cargo ships. Taking it down will allow us to get these ships in and unload their cargo.”
The choice to remove part of the 83-feet-high trestle came after the terminal successfully carried out several vessel transloading operations that showed strong market demand and confirmed the terminal’s readiness for more marine activity, Rodela explained.
Midcontinent Terminal, which also operates at the former Northern Wood Preservers mill location, anticipates adding around 10 new positions to its current workforce of approximately 20 to 25 employees.
“We are growing,” Rodela said. “We have about 400 to 500 railway cars of traffic a year, and now we’re looking to add vessels.”
Currently, the terminal manages various products including chemicals for local industries and nearby mines among others.
Rodela mentioned that they maintain a positive relationship with the Port of Thunder Bay, which oversees Keefer Terminal.
“We think of ourselves as added capacity to the port, and that this will just increase overall inbound cargo and production and economic benefits for the local economy.”
The City of Thunder Bay’s Heritage Advisory Committee has recognized the ore dock as a heritage property but has yet to officially designate it.
This facility was constructed at the end of World War II to transfer ore from Steep Rock Mine at Atikokan from railway cars into ships destined for steel mills in eastern Canada.
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