Lift and Shift India makes record move

What is claimed as India's largest and heaviest load has been moved by Lift & Shift India.

The record load was an offshore module for main client Maersk Oil Qatar built by Larsen & Toubro in India. Lift & Shift, which is part of the Natvar Parikh Group, moved a total load out weight of 3,300 tonnes for L&T. It included the 2,400 tonne HA deck process platform, 550 tonnes of axles, 200 tonnes of load spreaders, and 100 tonnes of barge grillage.

The vertical stroke of the suspension on the Nicolas hydraulic trailers was used to lift the load. The trailers were a mix of MDE, MHD and SPMT (self propelled modular transporter) in four rows, two with 30 and two with 28 axle lines of eight wheels (four pairs) per line, giving a total of 928 wheels. Each of the four rows had a power pack and remote control.

The deck was moved at the yard in Hazira, Surat, more than 1,000 m at 1 km/h. At the dock the load out onto the barge took 72 hours. The pumps for ballasting pumped up to 175 tonnes of water a minute to keep the barge level as the load moved onto it. Final destination was the Al Saheen oil field in Qatar.

Lift & Shift has 55 years of experience in the industry and started planning this job two years ago with the design and engineering of the load spreader, selecting the trailers, barge and pumps, identifying suitable tides, etc.