Transportation from Ipswich to Burwell
Allelys have recently transported, offloaded and installed a transformer weighing 184te. The cargo was received at Ipswich Docks onto a 12 axle flat top trailer and shunted to a temporary storage area.
The transformer, measuring 8.7m (l) x 5.4m (w) x 4.8m (h), was then transported 59 miles to Burwell, Cambridge using an 18 axle, 200te capacity girder frame. The route engineered by the Allelys team, included a temporary closure of the Orwell Bridge to enable the transport to cross without any other vehicles on the bridge at the same time.
A complex project route
Working alongside Highways England, Allelys arranged temporary traffic management on the A14 to remove the central reservation barrier and with two lanes closed on each side, the girder frame was able to cross over, travel against the normal flow of traffic and up the slip road, at junction 37, on the wrong side of the carriage way.
The heavy transport then needed to negotiate the intricate road network through the town of Burwell, before delivery to the substation.
Once on site, the transformer was jacked up using synchronised climbing jacks and positioned onto a turntable to be rotated, skidded into the bund and then jacked down into its final position.
A full service solution
The in-house engineering team supported the project to ensure that the abnormal load was able to successfully travel through the selected route by completing route surveys and swept path analysis. They also engineered a lift plan for the crane work on site.
“This project was particularly interesting to work on due to the route involved. It was certainly impressive to see the girder frame travelling solo across the Orwell Bridge. The knowledge and experience within the team, alongside the Allelys equipment fleet, were all critical elements to the success of the project.”
explained Zac Smout, Project Manager at Allelys.
