Whatcom County, Washington - The six transformers at the Ross Powerhouse, in use since the 1950’s, had reached the end of their life cycle and needed to be replaced. Mammoet was contracted for our extensive factory to foundation solutions and controlling of the entire transport chain. The new transformers had to be delivered from the factory in St. Louis, Missouri. The challenge was that the Ross Powerhouse, located on the Skagit River, is not accessible by road. So the final phase of the transport had to be done by barge in order to complete delivery. The project was scheduled to be completed in two phases with the first taking place in 2016 and the second in 2017.
The transport consisted of moving seven 80 ton transformers from St. Louis to the Ross Powerhouse over 2300 miles away. The transformers were loaded to rail car via a jack and slide system after which they undertook the 2200 mile journey to Burlington, Washington where they were trans loaded to over-the-road highway truck and trailers for the final 55 miles of highway travel.. Due to the length and weight of the trucks and transformers, crossing the Diablo Dam was not an option. A temporary road needed to be built to accommodate the use of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) to carry the transformers to a barge for the two mile journey to their final destination. The SPMT finished the journey and delivered the transformers to the powerhouse for final setting. The final transformers were put into place on their foundations mid-August. Mammoet completed the project without incident and on time.