Oklahoma-based Northwest Crane Service has used a 500-ton (453.6-tonne) capacity Hydra-Slide HT500 skidding system to install a transformer at a power station.
The transformer weighed 118,607 lbs (54 tonnes) and measured 22.9 ft x 8.7 ft x 12.6 ft (7 m x 2.7 m x 3.8 m). To move the component, Northwest Crane also utilised Hydra-Slide’s Hydra-Pac synchronous hydraulic power unit, oak timber mats, jacks, and other rigging gear.
Jimmy McClung, project manager at Northwest Crane, said: “The site provided very limited access for the work and was sloped significantly. As such, we had to account for the variation in height in our slide track support plans. However, as always, we had to execute each stage of the job one step at a time; our first task was to receive the transformer at the site on third-party trucking equipment.”
He continued: “We had to jack it up from the trailer, install the slide track, slide it 50 ft (15.2 m) to align with the pad, jack it up to remove the slide track equipment, and jack the transformer down onto the pad.”
