new heights

WORLDWIDE HEAVY TRANSPORTATION AND LIFTING
Case studies – Americas
Case studies –
Africa, Caspian and Middle East
RECEIVING AND STORAGE OF 12 PIPE RACK
MODULES, VENEZUELA
OVERVIEW: ALE has successfully performed the receiving and storage of 12 pipe rack
modules, weighing a total of 1,312.2t, for the Deep Conversion Project.
SERVICES REQUIRED: The 12 modules ranged in weight and size, with some as heavy
as 161.8t and measuring up to 32.1m long, 11.5m wide and 11m high.
The modules were received from the vessel at the Port of Guanta, where they were
prepared for onward transportation to the refinery.
Two transport configurations were utilised, consisting of 32 axle lines of SPMT in a 4 file
16 configuration and 40 axle lines of SPMT in a 4 file 20 configuration with two spacer beds.
Overall, ALE has to date received 44 pipe rack modules out of the 96 for the Deep
Conversion Project.
GANTRY CRANE ROTATION, BRAZIL
OVERVIEW: ALE has successfully loaded, rotated and unloaded
a 2,810t gantry crane from its temporary position, onto its final
track location at a shipyard in Espírito Santo, Brazil.
SERVICES REQUIRED: ALE was hired to uplift a gantry crane,
weighing 2,810t, from a temporary position, rotate and unload
it onto its final track location.
The gantry crane measured 150m wide and 95m high and was
shipped fully assembled from Asia. The ship transporting it could
only be moored 90 degrees to the quay. Therefore, once the
gantry was unloaded, ALE needed to rotate it, so the gantry
crane could move on its rails, alongside the quay.
To execute this very delicate operation, ALE utilised 132 axle
lines of SPMT with eight PPUs to perform the manoeuvres.
During the moves, ALE faced a number of challenges. One of
these was the fact that one of the gantry legs had a hinge on the
top. This meant that any misalignment during the rotation (in any of
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the two directions) could have caused an opening of the leg
and potential damage to the structure or even the collapse
of it. The limits were set at 500mm for the leg opening and
only 300mm for the longitudinal misalignment between the legs.
To reach this delicate tolerance, SPMTs were synchronised and
laser systems were installed to monitor the distance in between
the legs. A topography was also used for this same purpose.
Due to the very heavy loads imposed on the gantry crane
structure, all of the support points between the gantry and
ALE´s equipment needed to be aligned with the crane
manufacturer’s guidelines. For this, ALE made two visits with
the client to the manufacturer in China, so the safest transport
configuration was chosen.
The whole operation, including the jacking-up, rotation and jacking
down, took four hours to complete. The crane will be used on the
yard to handle ship blocks.
TRANSPORTATION AND INSTALLATION OF HEAVY CARGO TO TWO COMBINED-CYCLE
POWER PLANTS, EGYPT
OVERVIEW: ALE has been awarded the transportation and
installation scope for the largest combined cycle project in
the world.
ALE has successfully completed the first stage, involving the
transportation and installation of heavy mechanical equipment to
the newly constructed gas combined-cycle power plants in Beni
Suef and New Capital, Egypt.
SERVICES REQUIRED: In the short period of 10 weeks, ALE has
transported six gas turbines, six generators and two transformers
to the power plant in Beni Suef, installing all of the turbines and
generators. Simultaneously, ALE has transported one transformer,
two generators and two turbines to New Capital, also installing all of
the turbines and generators.
Because of the challenging slopes and roads ALE faced during the
route, it needed up to three prime movers to carry the
heaviest gas turbines.
WEIGHING, TRANSPORTATION AND LOAD-OUT OF TWO JACKETS, QATAR
OVERVIEW: ALE has successfully completed the weighing, transportation and load-out of two jackets in Ras Laffan, Qatar.
SERVICES REQUIRED:
Both jackets were weighed using
eight 600t weightors. The jackets
weighed 2,628t and 2,581t and
measured 57.04m long x 35m
wide x 36.80m high, making these
jackets the largest and heaviest
jacket to ever be fabricated in Qatar.
ALE transported the jackets
from the fabrication yard to the
quayside. ALE used 144 axle lines
of Gen 3 SPMTs in a 6 x 2 file 24
configuration.
In consideration of the site
restrictions and the limitations set
by the semi-submersible barge, a
side load-out was performed on
the barge to enable the jacket to
float-off once offshore.
The load-out operation was fully
controlled by a self-ballasting
system of the semi-submersible
barge. Each load-out operation
took approximately three hours
to complete.
ALE’s award-winning Trojan truck and an MAN truck are being used
on the project, reducing the amount of prime movers,
from three to two.
The gas turbines and generators were installed using skidding
gantries and were moved inside the plant using
24 axle lines of SPMT in a 4 file 12 configuration.
This is part of a bigger contract, where each power plant will have
the power of 4,800 MW, separated in eight gas blocks
and four steam blocks. The total heavy cargo ALE has been
contracted to deliver comprises of: 16 gas turbines weighing
486t and the corresponding generators, eight steam generators,
transformers and more than 380 boiler modules.
The cargo was first delivered to Beni Suef power plant and then to
New Capital power plant two months later. So far,
ALE has not only fulfilled the intended plan but has also managed
to shorten the transportation time of this project.
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