A Tower’s Tight Squeeze

The transport of an over 1.2-million-pound complex debutanizer from a port in Texas to a nearby refinery came with many challenges such as tight clearances and route obstructions. From project inception, the Deep South team worked closed with the client, as well as city and port officials, to determine the most effective means to transport the vessel. Highly-accurate, client-provided 3D-laser scans showed clearances of less than 6” along the route for the vessel alone, not including any transport equipment.

For transport at the port, Deep South used a 3-file Scheuerle SPMT transporter configured to achieve the dock’s ultra-low ground-bearing pressure requirements when receiving the vessel from the ship. At the port’s staging area, Deep South then used an 800-ton gantry system to reconfigure into a 24-axle-line Scheuerle “Split” SPMT-SL, which lowered the overall transport height, allowing the vessel to move just inches below several obstructions along the route.

Along the way, one pipe rack required significant excavation to lower the roadbed, and a sleeper bridge was widened and reinforced to handle the weight of the transport arrangement. Once at the final site, the debutanizer was lifted into place using a 1,400-ton Demag CC-6800 with a tailing frame, eliminating the need for a second crane.

• Equipment Used

  • Terex-Demag CC-6800
  • Scheuerle SPMT
  • Scheuerle "Split" SPMT-SL
  • Hydraulic Gantries

• Services Used

  • Heavy Haul
  • Heavy Lift
  • Rigging Services
  • Engineering
  • Custom Solutions