Nicolas transporter makes heavylift haul
18 March 2011Nicolas, French vehicle manufacturer, was commissioned to create a transporter to carry a 1,350t rectification column from the shipping port in Mumbai to a new ethylene plant in Dahej, India.
Owned by OPaL (ONGC Petro additional Ltd), the new ethylene production plant in the state of Gujarat is being constructed by a consortium consisting of Samsung Engineering, Korea and Linde.
The consortium hired Lift & Shift, an Indian transport and logistics company, to transport two columns using a self-propelled transporter.
Following the transport of two columns by sea-going pontoon, Lift & Shift ‘rolled off’ the columns onto two electronically steered, self propelled vehicles composed of modular axle lines.
The 125m, 1,350t column was attached to 64 Nicholas MHD SPE axle lines and another 13m, 1000t column was transported on 48 Nicholas MHD SPE axle lines.
During the 1km voyage, the vehicles made one 180° turn and two acute 90° turns, which required drivers to employ the 135° steering equipped with standard, diagonal, transverse and circular modes.
The rectification column weighing 1,350t was the largest ever produced in India, Nicholas said.
The plant, scheduled to open in 2012, will produce more than 1.1m tonnes of propylene a year.
