November 7 - SRT Transportation Solutions has executed several interesting projects in the last few months, including two steam generators being relocated across the USA.
These pair of units, which measured 73 ft (22.2 m) in length by 13 ft (3.9 m) in width and 14.5 ft (4.4 m) in height, each weighed 1.1 million lbs (500 tonnes).
Such extreme weight would normally dictate the use of a Schnabel car or a bolstered loading arrangement, but the former was not possible as the customer wanted to move both units in one shipment.
Bolster loading of units at this weight, but at a relatively short overall length, presented its own challenges and SRT's engineering department worked to create an ingenious bolster design that would evenly distribute the weight of the loads over two railcars.
SRT says that this "first of its kind" bolster arrangement worked exactly as designed over the 3,000 mile (4828 km) rail route between the south east and far west of the USA.
The dimensions and weight of these units also pushed the limits of railroad clearances and weight capacities along the entire route, added SRT.
Meanwhile, the company also handled the movement of two heat exchanger vessels from Oklahoma to the Texas Gulf coast.
With an overall length of more than 92 ft (28 m) and having limited attachment points, a creative securement plan had to be designed by SRT's load engineering department, which met the customer's budget and exceeded the Association of American Railroads open top loading rules requirements, resulting in the safe delivery of both units.
