April 13, 2026, 4:08 p.m. ET

Matthew Foster, terminal operator for Carmeuse Erie Sand and Gravel, said he and his crew love their daily work of handling tons of salt, sand and gravel.

“It’s cool,” he said. “We are big kids playing in an overgrown sandbox with bigger toys.”

But a break from the routine can also be a good thing.

They had one over the weekend of April 11-12, when an expanded crew spent two long days unloading the BBC Tokyo.

Blades for wind turbines are offloaded at the Port of Erie in Presque Isle Bay on April 11.

The 489-foot cargo ship, which spent a month or so traveling to Erie from Tuticorin, India, was loaded with 57 244-foot windmill turbines.

The turbines will be loaded onto trucks equipped for oversized loads and then trailered from Ore Dock Road to East Bayfront Parkway and then onto eastbound Interstate 90, Foster said.

The first of those turbines are likely to leave Erie in the next week or so. Foster said he’s not at liberty to say precisely where the turbines are headed, but said there are a number of wind farms in New York.

Unloading the ship was a priority

Getting the work done quickly and safely was a priority.

“We wanted to limit the amount of time the ship had to stay in port,” Foster said.

“We worked from sunup to sundown to get it done,” he said. “After working all day, the guys left in good spirits. They appreciate doing it. It does take some skill.”

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To speed things along, “We had a total of 33 non-Carmeuse employees come in to help out,” he said. “It gives us a chance to help the economy with some extra employment.”

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Foster can’t say for sure when the next load of wind turbines will arrive in Erie. But he feels certain more are coming.

“Erie is a perfect place to ship because of the ease of access,” he said.

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.