October 20 - Mammoet recently transported a 325-tonne electrical transformer to a high-voltage substation for Dutch transmission system operator TenneT.
TenneT is currently expanding the electrical grid in the Breukelen-Kortrijk area, situated between the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht.
The transformer was constructed by Royal SMIT Transformers in Nijmegen. En route to its destination, the transformer had to pass over both the railway from Amsterdam to Utrecht and the A2 motorway. Mammoet has to develop a two-phase transportation plan to minimise disruption on these key routes.
The first phase was executed during the weekend of September 24, 2016. The transformer was shipped to the Amsterdam Rhine Channel, which runs next to the railway and freeway from Amsterdam to Utrecht. After arrival at the channel, the transformer was lifted from the inland vessel and positioned behind the channel dike by two floating cranes.
A Mammoet crawler crane was then used to lift the transformer over the railway track. This part of the operation was executed between 01.00 and 05.00 to minimise delays to railway traffic.
The transformer was then positioned on self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT), which drove across a pasture and onto the A2 freeway. Mammoet was then able to move the transformer over the motorway in approximately 15 minutes.
Phase two of the project was executed over the weekend of October 8, 2016.
The transformer was transported across the A2 motorway from Utrecht to Amsterdam on SPMTs. It then continued on its path to the high-voltage substation over the A2 from Amsterdam to Utrecht
In order to exit the motorway, Mammoet constructed a bespoke 125 m long steel ramp to safely bridge the height difference between the motorway and the high-voltage station.
The electrical transformer is currently positioned next to the substation. It will be installed once construction of the foundation has been completed.
