Indian expertise: major lifting projects under the spotlight

Lift & Shift in India has carried out a range of major projects over the last 12 months. IC outlines three of them

Large-scale load out

A number of offshore modules for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) continued expansion of the Bombay High oilfields were transported and loaded out to barges at fabricator L&T's Hazira facility.

The heaviest modules were a deck weighing 2,265 tonnes and a 1,914 tonne, 38 m high booster compressor module. The job was meticulously planned nearly a year in advance by Lift & Shift, along with L&T engineers. A date had to be fixed based on tides at the Tapti river, where the L&T jetty is located.

The module was transported using 96 axle lines and four power packs with a pulling capacity of 3,500 tonnes. The line had 896 tyres. Twenty-eight high-powered, 450 tonne-per-hour ballast pumps were used to keep the barge on an even keel during the entire load out operation. The trailer was operated by a single person using a joystick. The transport from the work area to the jetty and onto the barge was carried out in three days. The oil fields are located off the western coast of India.

Equipment used:

Self propelled hydraulic trailers

High capacity ballast pumps

Electronic control and steering system

Four strong

The 4 well head project entailed the load out of four jackets and four decks for the ONGC expansion in the Mumbai high oil fields. The engineering and planning of the operations was carried out a year in advance to meet the client's strict schedule and to minimize delays offshore. The equipment was loaded onto a series of 300 class barges via floating load outs under the careful supervision of Lift & Shifts ballasting crew.

Equipment details:

TYPE N2A PLATFORM DECK

SIZE (Length/Width/Height) 19,603 x 18,275 x 15,624

GROSS WEIGHT 525 tonne

TYPE NEA PLATFORM DECK

SIZE (L/W/H) 22,087 x 18,275 x 15,624

GROSS WEIGHT 520.7 tonnes

TYPE NHA PLATFORM DECK

SIZE (L/W/H) 20,982 x 18,275 x 13,987

GROSS WEIGHT 524.8 tonnes

TYPE N2A PLATFORM JACKET

SIZE (L/W/H) 77,432 x 30,512 x 27,368

GROSS WEIGHT 1,146 tonnes

TYPE NEA PLATFORM JACKET

SIZE (L/W/H) 66,232 x 30,089 x 25,502

GROSS WEIGHT 1,075.2 tonnes

TYPE NHA PLATFORM JACKET

SIZE (L/W/H) 63,732 x 27,089 x 25,085

NET WEIGHT 1,065 tonnes

Night time transfer

The 750 tonne Samsung PP reactor was manufactured in Vikhroli, Mumbai, within the city limits. The move required major civil and structural changes to the fabricator's workshop. This was carried out under the careful supervision of the Lift & Shift planning department.

The reactor was transported 5 km by night on the eastern freeway, a busy public highway. The destination was Lift & Shift's jetty.

After loading out the equipment on the company's 70 m long heavy lift barge, it had to pass under the Vashi bridge. This could only be carried out at a predetermined low tide and, even then, the clearance was just a few feet.

The barge was towed to Mumbai port where it was brought alongside the main transport vessel. The reactor was lifted off for further transport to the refinery site.