Finland-based heavy transport company Ville Silvasti has hauled three 176-tonne transformers from Rzeszow, Poland, to Ukraine.
For the transport, Silvasti utilised a four-axle tractor, a 16-axle modular trailer, and a four-axle pusher truck, with the combination measuring 45 m long and weighing 280 tonnes.
Preparations began in October 2022 with the company’s Polish subsidiary carrying out the planning and survey of the route with the Polish and Ukrainian authorities.
In Poland, the company said that due to the weight of the transport, separate calculations had to be carried out for 30 bridges along the route so that the combination could pass over safely.
The cargo’s height also posed a challenge. Obstacles above the road had to be bypassed or dismantled, while a hydraulic suspended trailer could lower the cargo as it passed under critical underpasses.
Silvasti said that a canopy at the Polish border post could not be bypassed, so the asphalt below the canopy had to be milled in advance, allowing the transport to pass underneath with only 1 cm of clearance.
Monika Skawinska-Jorka, Silvasti’s Poland branch manager, said: “This project was challenging in many ways, the size and weight of the transportation and schedule not the least. Route survey and permits were needed fast and fortunately collaboration with authorities was excellent.”
