Rapid Lifts, moves and transports six 55t rotors

Portsmouth, UK-based lifting, transport and storage specialist Rapid Response Solutions (RRS) moved six 55t rotors from Goole, 40 miles southwest to Barnsley for disposal recently. RRS accepted a scope of work from C. Soar & Sons, a specialist in dismantling and recycling of electrical plant equipment, to load the rotors onto vehicles from its transport fleet and deliver them to a recycling facility where C. Soar unloaded them using its own yard cranes. The task was completed in just four days. The first challenge was presented by the storage arrangement of the rotors, which was designed to take up the least amount of space rather than facilitate efficient load-out. Each rotor had to be jacked up and moved about 10m sideways using RRS’s 270t capacity Hydra-Slide HT300 heavy track hydraulic skidding system and power pack. Paul Barber, managing director at RRS, said: “There was lots of other equipment in the warehouse and space was limited. We chose the HT300 over the LP [low profile] 350 skidding system, which is capable of pushing loads up to 310t, because we were jacking the rotors up to the trailer bed height and loading over the side of the trailer inside the building. The HT300 system only needed supporting every 3m with a 55t load, whereas the LP350 would have required support across its full length.” Also onsite in Goole, RRS used a 12t capacity Valla mini-crane to lift and move sections of the track into place. Barber said: “Having the Hydra-Slide skidding system and the Valla in our own fleet removes much of the risk involved in traditional ‘hump and bump’ type moves. The machinery completes the hard work safely and the engineers can remain at a safe distance. Having invested in the specialist equipment we were able to offer a fully inclusive service, whilst keeping all costs to a minimum.” Once loaded, transportation presented fewer problems as the rotors were essentially rectangular and box-shaped, although two of them were narrower and one was taller than the other three. RRS chose to employ its two largest tractors, of 150t capacity, as with the load at 55t the gross vehicle weight (GVW) and axle loads were not suited to smaller vehicles. One unit had four axles with a four-axle low loader and the other three axles with a four-axle semi low loader. Abnormal load escort was also provided by RRS, completing the comprehensive service. Barber said: “We had one lorry and one escort for each rotor. The speed at which we were able to move and load the motors was too quick for one lorry on turn-around so a second vehicle was in the loop to meet the time scale set. Due to the time taken to load and unload, only one vehicle with its escort was on the move at any one time.”