August 2 - Global heavy lifting and transport company, ALE has successfully completed the transportation of two CO2 vessels to the UK's biggest sugar supplier, British Sugar. The 28 metre long vessels were required as part of a site upgrade at the firm's
The vessels arrived at the port of King's Lynn where they were lifted onto the 4-spacer 4-transport configurations, each pulled by an ALE heavy ballast tractor to begin transportation by road (pictured below).
Prior to the move, ALE's UK office conducted a detailed route survey to identify any possible issues with moving the load from port to factory. It revealed that street furniture would need to be removed along the planned route to provide a clear path for the 70 tonne vessels. ALE also required a police escort, as well as wire escorts to lift any overhead power lines causing obstruction to the vehicles.
Once on site the vessels were transhipped from the road-going transport configurations onto a four-row self propelled modular transporter (SPMT) and six rolling axles, all of which were fitted with ALE-designed and
manufactured bolsters to aid manoeuvrability. The SPMT enabled ALE to remotely drive the loads on a smaller system not much longer than the vessels themselves, allowing easy navigation through the tight on site road system to the location where they would be offloaded to foundation.
ALE also produced swept path drawings to establish the required running area during negotiation of site roads. This forward planning enabled ALE to advise the site of modifications needed to ensure the safe and successful move of the vessels through the site, which included road widening measures and removal of pedestrian barriers.
Andy Tite, project manager at ALE said: "Even our smaller projects involve a great deal of planning and research; it is essential that each project is well planned to ensure safety and success." about ALE
Founded in 1983 by Roger Harries, ALE delivers a highly tailored, end-to-end service covering every aspect of the handling, transportation and installation of heavy, indivisible loads, including lifting, transporting, installing, ballasting, jacking and weighing. In 2008 it launched the AL.SK190, the world's largest land-based crane, which it developed specifically for the lifting and installation of ultra heavy loads and which is capable of lifting a record-breaking 4,300te and can be relocated on site fully rigged.
ALE delivers strategic heavy-lift services to a wide range of sectors, including civil, oil and gas, energy, nuclear, offshore, renewables, petrochemical, ports, marine, minerals and metals and mining.
ALE is headquartered in Staffordshire and has more than 20 offices across Europe, the Far East, Africa, America, South America and the Middle East. It is fully compliant with international standards of safety and excellence, including Quality standard ISO 9001:2008, Environmental standard ISO 14001:2004, and Health and Safety Standard OHSAS 18001:2007. ALE is also registered and qualified in the Achilles Norway and Link-up systems, and is a member of both the British Safety Council and the British Standards Institution.
