FRANKFORT - Michigan's last steam-powered crane is good to go for another season of work.

Last fall, we reported that the days were numbered for a barge-mounted Orton-Whirley steam-powered crane operated by the Luedtke Engineering Co, a commercial dredging and breakwater repair company that employs operating engineers and seafarers. The owners were seriously contemplating putting the crane out to pasture, so to speak, by selling it, donating it to a museum, or as a very last resort, cutting it up for scrap.

But in talking to Luedtke Engineering President Kurt Luedtke last month, "we've still got it, and we'll be putting her to work again this year," he said. "Right now, we're not actively looking for a buyer. It's still dependable, runs fine, and we've got the guys who know how to operate it."

The crane was built in 1939, and it's the only one known to still be working under steam power on the Great Lakes. The owners recognize the crane's historic value, but it doesn't have the lift capacity of more modern cranes, and they know the end of the line will come someday.

But for 2003, "we've got piles to drive, and this machine does the job," Luedtke said. "We're going to keep it running."

THAT'S STEAM, not diesel exhaust, emanating from the last known steam-powered crane on the Great Lakes.