Aertssen and ALE complete lifting on Total's €1bn Optara project

Lifting was recently completed on the Optara upgrade project. For the project, ALE and Aertssen partnered, with ALE handlig load out at Tarragona and delivery at Antwerp, and Aertssen supplying cranes, including a Terex Superlift 3800, for lifting.

ALE organized the SPMT transportation and load-out operations at the client's fabrication yard in Tarragona, Spain, and then received the modules in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, where lo-lo and ro-ro operations were performed. The modules were then transported 6km from the port to the refinery. Aertssen Kranen took care of all heavy lifting activities as from arrival at Antwerp's port until positioning at final rest at Total Refinery, including related engineering.

Once the main equipment modules arrived at the refinery, 16 were directly installed using SPMTs and the remaining modules installed by means of Aertssen's 650t Terex Superlift 3800 crawler crane. Some of the modules were transported with an auxiliary steel structure measuring 6m high to directly install them at final height level, optimizing the construction civil works process. A total of 74 lifting operations were achieved considering all vessels and some of the modules, all within the scheduled timeframe and budget.

Two of the modules were the heaviest and biggest ever driven through Antwerp's public roads. Weighing 980t and 1,050t respectively, with dimensions of up to 26m in length, 16m wide and 32m high, these were transported to the refinery using 72 axle lines of SPMT.

Through the partnership ALE and Aertssen Kranen won Total's Contractor of the Month award for their HSQE efforts throughout the project.