Shedding at pier 9A

Q: Snakes shed their skin and lobster shed their shells, so what do sheds do?

A: The transit shed at Pier 9A is shedding its skin in preparation for a major rebuilding, as the port continues to make improvements at Richmond Terminals. The shed at Pier 9B was extensively rebuilt and a new section added as part of the Pier 9C extension, and so it is now the turn of the south half of the pier 9A shed. The north half of the shed is used by Halifax Shipyard, but the south half has not seen much use lately.

 

It was the site of the short lived sideloader operation by Canada Steamship Lines in the 1960s when they built covered alleys from the shed to the pier face for forklifts to load Fort class package freighters to Newfoundland. That service was soon displaced by containerization. It was later used by Scotia Terminals for unloading nickel sulfides from Cuba, but a dispute with CN over rail services ended that operation prematurely.

It appears that the existing steel frame will be kept, and the building will be reskinned with new walls, roof and doors.

Just visible in the background is the yellow funnel of the ferry Canada 2014 refitting for the Digby-Saint John service. Work is underway on rebuilding the engines, but there is no sign of exterior work yet. That will happen once weather conditions permit.

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