Preparations for a potential new business at the Port of Vicksburg are under way.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to approve payment for the county’s contracted engineering firm, Stantec, to evaluate plans to install a new crane on the T-dock at the port.

“We need to have our engineers involved in the research on whether (the port) can handle (more tonnage) and be able to accommodate a new crane if we go forward with the project,” District 2 representative William Banks said.

Board president Richard George said the county’s engineers are needed to determine the potential costs of adding the new crane, along with its potential stability and longevity.

“The planning and investigation of our current facilities and our capacity to adjust to heavy usage is critical to this project. Timing is also a factor,” he said. “The specs and qualities of the facilities need to be reviewed for the ability to set parameters for whatever improvements are made. There’s some engineering that needs to be done in order for a decision and financial planning to (take place).”

WATCO Terminal and Port Services, which operates and manages the port under a contract with the county, presented the possibility of the new business, which could potentially more than double the port’s current off-loading, to the board Sept. 13 with a list of port improvements totaling between $5 million and $6 million to accommodate the new business, including a new crane.

The company presently has a “crawler” or mobile crane on the port’s T-dock, and the port’s overhead crane, which was damaged in a fire and has been repaired, county officials said. WATCO wants a $1.85 million equilibrium, or E-Crane, which is supposed to be more efficient, on the T-dock.

County engineer John McKee of Stantec, which originally designed the T-dock, estimated up to a $30,000 price tag to analyze information “we’ve already received from WATCO concerning various cranes, weights and abilities” and run structural numbers and soil sampling.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to come in under that amount,” he said.

The board approved up to $30,000 for the firm to determine the potential for a new crane, specifically whether it would be better to mount it on the T-dock or put it on a stand-alone pedestal beside the T-dock, with a four-week timeline for a completed report.