March 18 - Specialised heavy rigging and transportation firm Omega Morgan has delivered a ferry from Rainer, Oregon to Crescent Bay, Lake Roosevelt in Washington State.
Portland, Oregon headquartered Omega Morgan transported the vessel Sanpoil - built by Foss Maritime at its Rainer facility - in nine individual pieces. The new vessel will be assembled at the Crescent Bay Boat Launch.
"The main hull was essentially a beam and dolly move with a semi-tractor performing a drawbar pull of the ferry," explained Mark Richardson, project manager, Omega Morgan.
Eight dollies were mounted to the framework to create a trailer. A tractor loaded with counter weights pulled the heavy load along the road.
The entire consignment weighed approximately 137 tonnes and measured 48.7 m x 6.7 m x 4.9 m. Richardson noted that on parts of the journey the crew had to exit the trucks and control steering the dollies via remote control.
Sanpoil will be deployed on Lake Roosevelt. It will replace the Martha S that has made 30 to 35 crossings every day for 65 years, connecting Lincoln and Ferry Counties.
