With twelve 325t engines and the same number of 80t generators loaded over a three-week period through two doors at the facility, time and space were key considerations for Martin Bencher.
The LP400’s low-profile, hand-portable design permits its use in most situations where a high capacity skid system is required, but where space or access is limited.
A total height of less than 51mm reduces jacking time and was ideal for the power plant environment, where space was restricted as the units were loaded through openings in the east and west halls before final installation.
David Branco, US marketing manager, Martin Bencher, said: “An indoor gantry crane and conventional slide system would have been the alternative method in this case, which our riggers are familiar with, but the method requires a much thicker beam and a large crew. The LP400, by contrast, is lightweight and easy to assemble.
“Once we had two, then three, then four engines in the halls, space became restricted and the smaller track system made progression of the project that much smoother. Efficiency is a premium commodity in a power plant environment where shut-downs are often required to allow installation work to take place. The faster a plant is back up and running, the happier the customer.”
Transportation of the engines and generators was more complicated. Martin Bencher employed two Goldhofer trailers simultaneously to move the loads from Port Isabel, Texas where they had arrived from Italy.
Such was the size of the loads—all the engines were 20 ft.-high, Branco said transportation had to take place overnight with police escort with a permitted top speed of 20mph. Branco explained that the transport operation of two engines alone took a week.
