Port Planning

STEPHEN OLKO

Stephen Olko is a Principal with The Cornell Group and Olko Engineering and heads the Port and Transportation Engineering Division of the firm. His prime specialty is Ports & Harbors and their related facilities - including feasibility studies, detailed designs, costs, cargo handling equipment and construction supervision. With over 40 years of experience on over 600 consulting projects, Mr. Olko is the most experienced professional consultant in the Cornell Group. On recent assignments with Pamy Arora in Russia and other locations, Mr. Olko has assisted in determining the asset values of the landside and waterside infrastructure and facilities at ports, as well as the investments required for rehabilitation. Mr. Olko’s experience in port planning and asset valuation is extensive and if listed here, all his assignments would cover several pages. A brief summary of his experience relevant to this assignment is presented below.

St. Petersburg, Russia - Inspected the physical infrastructure assets and equipment at the port, surveyed the navigation channels, piers and bulkheads. Defined the depreciated present value of the infrastructure assets and facilities, and capital investments needed to rehabilitate the port. Determined the current condition of the navigation channel and the cost to rehabilitate it.

Murmansk, Russia - Conducted inspections and estimated the capital investments needed for rehabilitation of the port, similar to the work done at St. Petersburg. The work was done for development of a business plan for the privatization of the port.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - Assisted in the privatization of the port. Determined asset values of the port infrastructure, equipment and facilities to be handed over to the private investors. Defined investment requirements for improving port facilities and access roads. Assisted in developing business plan.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala - Conducted economic feasibility of developing a new container and passenger terminal. Evaluated port facilities and investments needed, developed operating plan, conducted economic and financial feasibility analysis, and developed a loan request document to obtain funding for the project from the Central American Development Bank.

Mr. Olko has been working with Pamy Arora on similar port assignments for over 7 years. Earlier, Mr. Olko worked with the Frederic R. Harris Inc. of New York as Port Engineer.

Mr. Olko has a BS in Civil Engineering from Dartmouth College, Thayer school of Engineering, an MS in Structural Engineering from Harvard University, and an MS in Soils and Foundations from Columbia University. He is also a Ph.D. Candidate. He is fluent in Polish, Spanish and French.

GARY K. GREENE

Gary Greene is a Senior Associate with The Cornell Group with 18 years of experience in in port operations and planning, including simulation of port operations and capacity, operations productivity review. He specializes in developing simulation models for port and traffic operations. Mr. Greene’s relevant project experience includes the following:

Sri Lanka - For Pamy Arora, developed several models and determined the capacity and layout of a container port in the process of being privatized. Determined equipment requirements.
Poland Port Privatization - Conducted general cargo and container port planning, cargo forecasting, operations review and facility development studies for a private terminal operator bidding for a concession to operate the ports at Gdansk, Gdynia and Sczeccian.
China (Shanghai) Container Terminal Planning - Developed terminal facility plans, designs and operating requirements for a container terminal for a consortium made up of China’s largest shipping company and a US Ship Agency.
Ecuador (Guayaquil) Terminal Planning - Evaluated existing container cargo operations and forecasts, and developed recommendations on terminal layout and operations improvements.
Africa (Gabon) Container Terminal Planning - Conducted a feasibility study for container terminals at the ports of Owendo and Gentil, including cargo forecasting, operations improvement analysis, planning and preliminary design of berths, storage areas and facility infrastructure.
North Carolina Ports Container Terminal Planning, - For the State Ports Authority, conducted the planning, and environmental/permitting and preliminary design for a new 150 acre container terminal. Tasks included cargo forecasting, facilities layout and sizing of cargo storage areas, maintenance, administrative and gate facilities.
Richmond, Virginia Port Development - Reviewed and made recommendations on the proposed development of a container and general cargo terminal, including container storage planning, siting of access and internal roads and gate facility.
Port Royal, Virginia Terminal Planning - Conducted operations analysis, review, planning and design work involving crane installation, berth modifications, and modifications to container and bulk storage facilities.
South Carolina Port Planning Projects Review - For the State Ports Authority executive management, reviewed, evaluated and provided recommendations on engineering projects and development/planning documents.
Morehead City Container Terminal Planning - Conducted terminal planning, operations analysis, and terminal development studies for a refrigerated container terminal with a rail intermodal facility for a large fruit importer and shipping company on the US Atlantic coast.
Port Everglades, Florida Terminal Design - Developed a cruise ship terminal operations and design alternative, and a scheme for handling passengers and stores to minimize the impact on berth requirements.
Indonesia Rail Cargo Planning Study - Evaluated the ability of the rail system on the island of Java to accommodate increase in traffic, terminal requirements, equipment requirements, operating and capital costs and environmental impact. The study was performed to evaluate the impact of a competitive truck transportation alternative on the island.
New York Container Barge Operations - Conducted planning, operations, simulation, cost analysis and design of a container barge transfer facility, including recommendations on equipment needs, barge capacity and scheduling.
Carolina Coal Import Study - For a large power generation company, evaluated coal terminal development alternatives including total transportation and handling costs for importing coal to local coal-fired plants.
Gary Indiana Coal Transportation Study - Determined facility requirements and operating / permitting costs for barge transport, and compared these to rail shipment costs.
Norfolk Southern Coal Pier Study - Developed alternative layouts of a new coal loading pier and provided advice on environmental permitting, design of marine structures and dredging. Reviewed bulk vessel ship sizes and recommended maximum ship size to be used for pier design.
Morehead City Terminal Master Plan - Project engineer responsible for determining capacity of existing terminal and development of alternatives to accommodate greater cargo throughput. Environmental assessment and development of bulk loading facility simulation model completed.

Mr. Greene was a Port Engineer and Planner for the North Carolina State Ports Authority for five years till 1982. He has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of North Carolina and has done graduate studies there as well. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, and is actively involved in several port and transportation-related professional organizations.