Shoreham Port took delivery of three 200 tonne transformers this week which were offloaded by an even weightier giant telescopic crane.
The transformers arrived on the 2,000-tonne cargo ship Nautica via the River Rhine, the North Sea and the Channel from the manufacturer in Krefeld, Germany and were off-loaded onto the quayside by one of the very few 1,000 tonne capacity cranes in the UK supplied by Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd.
Standing at over 40 metres high, the 1,000-tonne crane arrived as a mobile base unit with jib and counterweights traveling separately on about a dozen additional lorries. Once at the Port, the giant crane was in itself assembled on Shoreham Port’s Brighton Terminal by one of Baldwins 100 tonne cranes.
The transformers, used in larger electricity sub-stations like the new one for the Rampion Wind Farm at Bolney, will leave the Port one by one, two by road and the third on a barge for destinations elsewhere in England.
Tony Parker, Director of Engineering at Shoreham Port commented “Everything about the operation is huge, including the team required to make it work, and it needs a great deal of careful organisation and attention to detail to ensure everything goes to plan and programme. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, though. Who wouldn’t want to be involved with such an amazing feat!”
Source: Shoreham Port