Recently in Special Transport Category

JAN...RELEASE DEM BIRDIES! Sil van Wanrooij in Holland has been following the racing pigeon transporter string on Biglorryblog, adding his own unique cloggie spin on it along the way too. Now he's sent me this great shot and says: "Brian, herewith a photo of a Dutch tractor and pigeon trailer---a so-called  "Camion Whiep Whiep'! It's a good idea to use a trailer [rather than a bodied rigid truck] as they can be pre-loaded with a small (old) tractor unit ready to be picked up later by an 'international' tractor like the Scania in the picture. The Scania worked as tractor for our ferry trailers  from Monday morning till Friday morning---and then went off to France with a semi-trailer full of racing pigeons. However, if for some reason the pigeons weren't released  we were missing the unit on Monday morning for its normal weekly work! But that's life...regards Sil."

Biglorrybog's 'Man North 'o' the Border' John Henderson has sent me this gem. "I liked Les Freathy's yellow Foden with the liberated pigeons, and here's Bedford's answer to bird transportation from the cover of their November 1972 'Transport Magazine'! The north of the border connection here is the windscreen sticker, which identifies that the VAL coach chassis motor as carrying feathered friends for the Scottish National Flying Club.  The article within this fine magazine noted that the Bedford could carry 4,000 birds and incorporated Chris Catterall's patented 'instant liberation system,' which duly ensured that every homer got a fair start! A 150 gallon water tank kept the long distance flyers from getting thirsty too. The driver also got a fair chance to hone his homing instinct, as the high  roof cab contained a bed, fridge, cooker and washing facilities! Best regards,John." Cracking stuff John....that's got me in a right old flap! 

Help Gerroff!! Don't let it get me! Yes Biglorryblog abhors this kind of big truck bullying of a little Smart car by the monster special transporter from those German heavy haulage equipment experts Scheuerle---and click through here for their terrific website http://www.scheuerle.com/en/home.html  But what's that big yellow thing actually used for? Well keep reading and you'll soon find out!

When things get quiet on Biglorryblog I always turn to the German ultra-heavy transport equipment specialists at Scheuerle http://www.scheuerle.com/en/home.html for some fascinating stories and great pictures. And how about this one for example. An unusual combination of a 4-axle Actros tractor pulling a 13 axle lines of SCHEUERLE InterCombis AND with a Caterpillar dumper truck up front! The outfit was used to haul a 200-tonnes windmill nacelle to the top of a mountain in Sweden! The large lump was actually shifted all the way from Skelleftea harbour, in North Sweden to top of Uljabuoda Mountain where a 100 GWh Onshore Arctic Wind Project is being installed...Now click through here for more!

Is this what you call a 'bridging loan'? Wonders Biglorryblog... What you see here is a trio of self-propelled heavy-duty transport systems made by specialist heavy haulage trailer maker Goldhofer which were recently used by the Central Nippon Expressway Company to move a 545-tonne bridge section forming part of the new Higashi-Meihan-Highway between Nagoya City and Osaka in Japan... But then you knew that already didn't you? You probably also know that Higashi-Meihan-Highway connects Nagoya and Osaka, South West of Tokyo, and is one of the most important road links in Japan. Construction of the elevated express toll road, part of National Route 302, will be completed in 2010, providing a six-lane highway for 2.5 million people. And to see the rest of the job click through here, it's impressive!

What was I saying about the Aussies and long loads....? John Shepherd has e-mailed this to me and says: "I took these photos whilst waiting to mobilise offshore in Portland Victoria.The turbine blades were being off-loaded then transhipped across the port and offloaded again to a storage site, John." Now click through here for more....

You wouldn't want to break down here would you? It's funny how some stories come back to you like Halley's comet... Or a dose of fried onions... But speaking of things 'Astral' I'm grateful to Simon Wood that young roister-doister at Mercedes-Benz who very kindly provided me with these pictures of a special Scheurle carrier which if I remember correctly is being used to move giant lenses or mirrors, (or pasties... Well something giant anyway) as part of the extension of the European Southern Observatory in Chile... Which I spotted in the latest edition of MB's 'Transport' magazine.

You can clearly see how wide those carriers were and the fact that it took a while to get them up into the high Andes to the observatory... The photographer was Luis Roa/ALMA and click through here for one more.

Now that's what I call a BIG box....with MAN on the side I wonder if it's one of those big marine engines....or maybe it's a printing machine. What do you think it is? Meanwhile, word reaches Biglorryblog that the specialist trailer maker Faymonville has been busy introducing the S-Line Modulmax modular semi-trailer system and that's it pictured above.... With Modulmax you can build up modules of 2 to 6 'lines' of swing axles---each axle line has 8 x 215/75R 17.5" tyres for a load capacity of 36 tons per axle at 1 km/h, which, says Faymonville "...may be of interest for inter-factory transport." The 17.5" swing axles also have a steering angle of 60° and suspension clearance of 650 mm should also keep heavy haulers happy.

The company is developing a number of different Modulmax versions including loading platforms, low-beds (with or without extensions), excavator bridges, vessel bridges or carriers for windmill towers. It can also be also be equipped with a detachable gooseneck for use with either 3 or 4-axle heavy haulage tractors. For ultra-heavy haulage work, however, it takes a drawbar with its own built-in steering system. And in extreme cases it's even possible to specify a reinforced coupling system at the front and the rear of the trailer and which is directly connected to the direction of the module. Now click through here for more...

Hello, what 's happening here? Look closely into the distance and you might just see. I have Rod Simmonds and Rick Jamieson to thank for these pictures e-mailed to Biglorryblog.

I'm advised that this is how they transported the Airbus A320 fuselage, from the US Airways Flight 1549 through the streets of Red Hook, New Jersey to where it would be examined in detail. BLB readers will doubtless recall the recent miracle crash landing of USAIR flight 1549 on the Hudson River on January15th.

Thanks to the skill of the pilot Captain Chesley B Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeff Skiles and the calm efficiency of the cabin crew no lives were lost. It seems an incredible escape. Unfortunately I have no details as to who took these pictures otherwise I would gladly credit the photographer---if anyone knows please pass on the relevant details.and I'll post them up.

What I do know is that it's a tri-drive ballasted Kenworth [whoops--thanks to all for pointing out to me it's a Peterbilt--beginner's mistake DOH! BLB] up front doing all the hard work and a Nicolas low-loader modular trailer carrying the goods. This must have created one heck of a stir when it came through town! Now click through here for more...

Biglorryblog is pleased to bring you these smart new 4x4 Mercedes Axor gritters that have been helping to keep Staffordshire's roads free of snow and ice this winter and...wait a minute...what's that in the background? Crickey...THEY'VE GOT GRIT!!!!! You know I'm tempted to drive up to Staffordshire in order to enjoy the vicarious thrill of gritted roads! (Well I don't get out much...and especially if the roads are blocked with snow...)

Anyroadup, Staffordshire County Council added the seven new trucks to a winter road maintenance fleet in which Mercedes-Benz was already playing a leading role. Now click through here for more...and shot of a gritter being..gulp..loaded WITH GRIT!!!

Not that Biglorryblog is one to talk...I like the odd bit of pampering myself---but we've all heard stories of the various 'demands' that certain rock stars insist on when touring. You know the kind of thing. Lark's tongue pate in aspic, chilled Zubes, and only the finest bottled meths...Well it's nice to know that even a mega rock band like Radiohead is keen to reduce its carbon footprint - particularly with the sheer tonnage of equipment they need to transport between gigs. Thus, while planning a recent tour, Thom Yorke and the rest of the award-winning band asked their management to specify the most environmentally friendly trucks to haul their equipment, including instruments, amplification and lighting rigs. And naturally they chose the Volvos run by the Irish operator Frank McGuinness, which has built an enviable reputation for transporting equipment and stage sets for the top names in the music and entertainment business across Europe. Now click through here for more....

OK Dennis, Bob and all you heavy truck lovers...what do you reckon to this!? Vladmir Chekhuta, Biglorryblog's much loved man in Russian (or I think I should say Belarus) has returned to BLB with some stionking shots of a heavy haulage movement in Russia. Vladimir says: "hello Brian, I'm back again. These are my pics from yesterday's trip. Thanks to the Belarus company BELDORTYAZHTRANS (www.bdtt.by) I was able to see heavy transportation in action and it was the first time in my life!"

Vladimir continues: "the load was two gas-turbines that Siemens was needed to deliver to the Minsk power plant. Each unit weighed 150 tons and measured as follows: width - 4.6m, height - 4.94m and Length - 21m." The road on this pictures doesn't look too good does it?

As this rather chilly shot show, the first cobination consisted of an MAN TGA V8 (680hp) four-axle tractor up front pulling an 18-axle trailer Goldhofer THP (32 tons per one axel) with an olf MAN F2000 MAN (600hp) up the back pushing it...Vladimir says: "The gross mass is 252 tons and total length is 47m."

The second train, adds Vladimir, "Was a Scania (580hp) four-axle tractor (again a V8) with the same Goldhofer trailer and an Mercedes-Benz (609hp) Actros bringing up the rear... "

And as you can see from Vladmir's shots..it was cold and snowy too! NOT the ideal weather for mioving a large load...Bit of a change from South Africa eh Dennis? Meanwhile, Vladmir continues his story: "The load arrived in the Port of Klaipeda (in Lithuania) and travelled from there came to Belarus."

 
Vladimir goes on to sday: "All the transport vehicles belongs to the Czech firm HANY'S.
Anatoly (deputy director of Belarus company) told me that they did 48 operations with different organisations. It was very hard work which started in August of 2008. As for me I got pleasure out of this event. It was very interesting!" It looks it too Vldimir and great shots if a bit chilly! Brrrr...now click through here for some more--including how to get a large gas turbine around a tight corner!

Dennis Child, Biglorryblog's man from ROTRAN has sent me these two pictures of a big catamaran being transported by Transcor....now that's what I call a W....I.....D.....E load!

Or opne hell of a hggnover......thanks Dennis. And what's the truck eh?

Look out...get out the way...! Dennis's Tractomas heavy hitters are on the move again in South Africa! Well you wouldn't want to meet this lot coming up a one-way street the wrong way! " MY LARGEST COMBINATION 325-ton TRANSFORMER ON BOARD TODAY AT RICHARDS BAY" SHOUTS ROTRAN'S DENNIS CHILD PROUDLY! And click through here for one more shot of his mighty 900hp 10x10s in action....and in case you're wondering whether the 325 tons was the total think again this is what it all weighs!

The beam trailer weighs 265tons + the 325ton transformer + 75ton tractors x 3 = 815tons total!!!!!!

Brrr......it's gold outside!  'Two-Stroke' his forwarded these pictures to me shot by his good pal Mark Farrow of MDF Yarmouth." - I asked if they where okay to send to blog please do not post up until I get a fuller story.

"Ice road trucking Swedish style!" says TS. "Mark took these great winter wind pump pictures and sent yhem to me last night. This was in Poland---they had travelled from Klaipeda in Lithuania about 300 miles on packed snow, Have been working there since the end of August." I guess you need a bit of weight over the drive axles to get up this kind of slope....

And if you want to know how cold it was click through here to take a look at this shot!

Now that's what I call a hangover... And you'll need a bit more than an Alka Seltzer to deal with it too! Fortunately there's no shortage of skill and professional experience within the elite band of Britain's mobile home and caravan transporters who are featured in this week's Commercial Motor in a sector report by Dave Young (who also supplied Biglorryblog with this picture) . Dave tells me: "Hull-based Burstwick Freight services squeezes three motor caravans onto a Mercedes drawbar rig thanks to (legal) rear deck extensions. Almost the whole of the 'van (which has no mean rear overhang itself) is behind the rear trailer axle."

And just to prove it here's this week's cover featuring fellow caravan transporter Beamish..now click through here for car-moving memories from Dave...

Dennis Child, Biglorrryblog's chum in South Africa and general manager at SA's premier heavy haulage specialist ROTRAN multi-axle has sent me this shot of a 'Little and Large' combination based on a 750hp (8x8) Tractomas hauler followed by a 912hp (10x10) version with a 130-ton transformer on the back.