October 29 - Bigge Crane and Rigging is helping construct a new gas-fired power plant just outside of Lubbock in the USA.

Called Antelope Station, Bigge is hauling and installing 18 nine-megawatt, 300,000 pound reciprocating engine-generators in a project which will take around three months on site to complete.

Bigge will tranship 18 engine generators from rail cars utilising a hydraulic gantry system, then lift, set, and secure them on a SPMT transporter for overland road transportation to the Abernathy plant site.

At the project site, each generator will be set on individual foundations using a variation of a jack and skid technique to a tolerance of 2 mm. To date, Bigge has successfully transported and set 12 of the 18 generators.

"The first portion of this project has been completed ahead of schedule, on-budget, and to everyone's satisfaction", reported Bigge's client, "The Bigge project team's proactive approach has ensured there were no surprises or last minute issues - it has been a very smooth execution done by a very professional team."

Antelope Station is using quick-start generators, which achieve full output in as little as ten minutes, whereas traditional generators take from one to four hours to start. Antelope Station is expected to go online sometime in 2011, generating over 170 megawatts capable of powering up to 55,000 homes.

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