BigLorryBlog

Now you don't need Biglorryblog to tell you that ALMA (short for Atacama Large Millimetre Array) is the name of the observatory that sits on the high plateau of the Chilean Atacama Desert. Nor that the largest antenna facility in the world is located there at 5,100 metres (that's a lung-busting 16,278ft to you) and is used to research the universe. And you probably also know that the ALMA project is the result of a joint effort between Europe, East Asia, North America and Chile with the European involvement being managed by the Munich-based ESO (European Southern Observatory) who was also responsible for procuring the antenna transporters.

But what you might not know is how the kit for the project is carried up there. After all, it's no good having an antenna if you can't move it around to where you want it to go. So naturally ESO turned to the Pfedelbach-based special vehicle manufacturer Scheuerle to come up with some special transporters to carry them. (BLB readers will recall the German heavy haulage equipment manufacturer was recently featured in our blogs on Venezuelan heavy haulage...but I digress). Note the Actros tractor up front above.

The two antenna transporters, called 'Otto' and 'Lore' (no really..and that's one of them being moved on the road above--and just see how wide they are) are pretty specialised. After all radio antennas used in an antenna field have a 12m parabolic dish and weigh115 tonnes each. Depending on the research programme, a total 66 antennas must be continually repositioned around the 200 or so prepared bases which cover a distance of 15km....

However, the real challenge for the Mercedes trucks used on the move---to BLB it looks like a mixture of old SK Powerliners and newer Actros artics---carrying those antenna transporters (well they're not going to get up the mountain on their own are they?) is working in the high altitude where engine performance can be reduced by up to 50% because of the oxygen-depleted air. The Atacama plateau is also one of the driest areas on earth, shaped by extreme daily temperature changes between +30°C during the day falling to -15°C at night.