Fracht has successfully redelivered a 515-tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) from the UK to Germany.
The TBM, named Mary, recently excavated a 5 km-long tunnel under the River Humber that will house a high-pressure gas pipeline running from Goxhill to Paull. The TBM measured more than 190 m in length.
Fracht planned and executed the safe transportation of Mary from Baden-Wurttemberg to the River Humber site 18 months ago. The same team was tasked with returning the TBM to Germany for servicing and refurbishment ahead of its next project.
Prior to transport, Mary was disassembled into 21 pieces for decontamination, with particular attention paid to the 30-tonne cutter head, 70-tonne shield, 95-tonne machine can and 20-tonne tail shield.
Fracht coordinated the lifting, lashing, load plans and road transport on specialised trailers.The forwarder also organised a chartered vessel destined for Rotterdam where Fracht’s team was ready to tranship the cargo onto barges by means of a floating crane. From Rotterdam, the barges sailed via the European inland waterway network to Germany.
Fracht transported has also coordinated the logistics for a second vertical boring between Germany and North Yorkshire mining site. Having completed drilling activities at the site, the 435-tonne machine is presently being decommissioned ahead of redelivery to Germany.
