ALE has completed the first phase of a transportation project from Mauritius to Madagascar in East Africa
ALE, one of the leading global heavy transportation and lifting experts, was contracted to transport 11 engines from the Port of Port Louis, Mauritius, to a heavy fuel oil power station in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Starting in February 2017, the first phase involved transporting the engines, weighing 57.2 tonnes, from the port to the Mauritian airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, using six axle lines of conventional trailers. Once all the engines were stored at the airport they were loaded onto an Antonov, AN-24 ex-military cargo carrier and flown to Ivato International airport in Antananarivo, Madagascar, where they were offloaded and staged.
Sean McGibbon, Project Engineer for ALE who is leading this project, said: “By engineering a turnkey methodology to offload the engines from the aircraft and in tandem with Volga Dnepr, the assisting aircraft operator, it shows how ALE can adapt and be responsive to ensure the engines arrived safely and within schedule. Despite further challenges, such as two cyclones which caused delays, ALE carried out the first transportation phase of the project successfully and are ready for the next phase.”
The final phases will involve the 36km road transportation and installation of the engines at the power station. The engines will then be transported 36km from the airport to the power station using SPTs. Propping material will be used to support and strengthen the heavy load across Imambo Bridge.
The engines will be transported using eight axle lines of SPT, after which they will be installed using the conventional jack and slide methodology.
