Heavy haulage in the air

BigMove member company Hegmann Transit in Germany was responsible for a heavy haulage project involving the giant Antonov AN-225 Mriya heavy freight aircraft. It was at the Airport Leipzig/Halle in the Eastern part of Germany.

The cargo was a gas compressor skid with engine module. To reach the airport, the compressor had to be divided into 15 separate units. The largest transport, weighing 152 tons, had 14 axles and 85 tonnes of cargo.

The five transports that required special authorisation left from the Ruhr area and headed for Leipzig/Halle Airport. A 500 tonne capacity wheeled mobile crane was engaged at the airfield in Leipzig to secure the loading into the Antonov.

The securing system followed its own special rules: A sevenfold load securement system was mandatory. Each piece of cargo needed additional securement points corresponding to the lashing points in the Antonov’s cargo compartment.

The 10 units of the compressor which did not need special authorisation were transported to Frankfurt Hahn Airport and then shipped on a Boeing 747 cargo plane.

Hegmann’s role ended once the aircraft took off for Cairo as an intermediate refuelling stop before continuing onto its final destination of Abu Dhabi.