Swiss heavy haulage specialist Friderici Spécial has acquired four SPMT PowerHoss vehicles from TII Scheuerle.
The modules will replace the chassis on two gantry cranes that are being deployed for the renewal of the runway at Geneva Airport. The SPMT PowerHoss units will also be used to transport components in the energy and construction sectors.
Ahead of their deployment at Geneva Airport, Friderici Spécial utilised the equipment to handle two transformers, weighing 100 and 147 tonnes, respectively, to Martigny in the canton of Valais. The SPMTs were deployed for the final stage of the transport, along a 500 m public road.
The modules were also used during the dismantling of a tunnel boring machine in the Sarneraatal flood discharge tunnel in the canton of Obwalden.
“Due to its weight of 88 tonnes and dimensions of 14 m long and 6 m wide, we could have transported the drill head using one of our modular trailers,” said Stéphane Friderici, managing director of Friderici Spécial. “However, there was not sufficient space available in some areas of the transport route for a pulling vehicle combination with modular axle lines.”
Also tasked with handling a machine pipe weighing 190 tonnes and measuring 14 m long, Friderici Spécial decided to utilise the compact 12 m-long and 2.99 m-wide transporters to manoeuvre the components through the restricted space and out of the tunnel entrance.
With two projects under their belt, the modules have now been put to work at Geneva Airport. The refurbishment of the runway requires the handling of concrete slabs, each measuring 15 m x 8 m and weighing 180 tonnes. These had been used to create the runway and are being replaced piece by new prefabricated slabs.
Up to now, the airport operator has used two mobile gantry cranes for this task which alternately transported a concrete slab to and from the working area. However, the two lifting machines are now showing their age. The chassis was the main problem, so the airport operator looked for a replacement solution. Together with TII Scheuerle, Friderici Spécial developed the concept of replacing the chassis´ of the gantry cranes with the SPMT PowerHoss – two of the modular transporters per gantry crane onto which the supports of the gantry crane are bolted.
The crane and load together weigh around 300 tonnes, which is why two SPMT PowerHoss 260 vehicles with a total of capacity of 512 tonnes provide sufficient payload.
