Faktor 5 moves turbine in Thailand

Silamas Transport in Thailand transported a 320 tonne Siemens gas turbine from Sri Racha to the Wang Noi 4 Combined Power Plant in Ayutthaya Province.

The turbine was moved on a Goldhofer Faktor 5 combination of 2 x THP/SL 12 modules (twelve axles to the front and rear) for the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). The Factor 5 is a high-girder bridge with a 1.8 metre vertical stroke, a loading length between 11 and 17 m and a variable axle configuration from 2 x 12 up to 2 x 20.

Challenges during the move included gradients of up to 6 %, low bridges, heavy traffic, and narrow roads. As a result, it took three days to cover the 330 km route. Where possible the Factor 5 reached 60 km/h.

Once at the power plant construction site, the Siemens gas turbine was unloaded using a gantry system developed by Silamas. It was moved into position using a THP/SL 12 split combination Goldhofer trailer.

Jürgen Heubuch, of the Goldhofer service team, said, “All in all everything went very well and there were no problems. For passage through built-up areas we helped the Silamas crew with the auxiliary steering needed to negotiate the tight bends.”

Stefan Fuchs, Goldhofer CEO, said, “We promised our key account Silamas that our innovative solution would put them in a wholly new league for heavy-duty haulage, and it’s great to see that, in the working world, our Faktor 5 does exactly what we promised it would. This shows that, with such innovations as Faktor 5, Goldhofer is also the 'indispensable factor.'”

Goldhofer's Faktor 5 high-girder bridge was nominated for the Award of Excellence of the European industry association ESTA and was ranked among the best ten in the innovation and development section.