Now you all know that Biglorryblog is a fan of the movement of awkward loads and they don't come more awkward than a 50m cold box weighing over 140-tonnes that recently had to be moved from England to Zambia. And it took a 10-axle Goldhofer heavy-duty combination to do it too.
Having travelled by container ship to the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia, the cold box was unloaded onto the low loader ready for the 2,400 km journey to Chingola in Zambia. The transportation job was managed by DHL, with the final leg of the journey handled by South African heavy haulage specialist Vanguard---using a couple of Actros Titan heavy hitters if BLB's eyes don't deceive him.
In the run-up to the journey the entire road-route was checked out, with all uncertainties and weak points taken down by a team of structural engineers who were also in charge of checking all bridge structures and getting the permits for crossing over them or finding alternatives.
Now click through here for more....and a shot of the big cool box going around a corner.
Ivan Collins, sales director at Andover Trailers, who also happens to be Goldhofer’s sole UK and Irish agent, tells BLB: “The Vanguard transport team made two 10 axle heavy-duty THP/SL modules available equipped with specialist long-load equipment and two Mercedes Titan tractors [hey I told you that right?], each with more than 600hp. The rear 10 axle trailer was also equipped with a self-tracking device and could be steered manually if necessary, whilst the modular nature of the Goldhofer system meant Vanguard could put the ideal combination together.”
Travelling primarily on the Trans-Caprivi highway, the load (with a total combination length of approximately 70m and a gross weight of 260-tonnes) marks the first and biggest transport of its kind to ever leave Walvis Bay port and travel across Namibia.
Now here's the clever bit----When the transport team reached the Kavango River in Namibia, the tractor units were disconnected as the 60m bridge did not possess the necessary bearing capacity for the entire load. The trailers were pulled across by means of a long steel cable, watched by crocodiles in the river below!
“Not even narrow bends caused a problem because the trailer offered such excellent manoeuvrability,” adds Ivan. “However, as the convoy approached Central Africa the road condition deteriorated and extreme cambers had to be compensated by means of leveling the Goldhofer modules. The sheer number of curious local people who lined the highway to marvel at this unique transport also slowed the convoy down.”
The transport finally reached its destination - the Konkola Copper Mine - after approximately six weeks. Here, the cold box will be used as an important component for melting copper. Now, far be it from me to be a killjoy...but wouldn't it have been easier to have shipped the bits of the box out to the mine first and then assembled it there?
Comments (1)
It is for keeping beer cold, I have a smaller version that I use at BBQs.
Posted by Peter Lynch | February 24, 2008 7:13 AM
Posted on February 24, 2008 07:13