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In Thailand, the substations had to be driven one kilometer over public roads to reach the port. Fences had to be removed, and a temporary gravel slope was constructed so that the SPMTs could avoid using the main entrance.
Once inside the terminal, the substations were transported via SPMT onto a heavy load carrier using RoRo ramps. The SPMTs lowered the modules onto the vessel’ s grillages before disembarking with the interface beams and the load-out frame.
It took 45 to 50 days for each substation to travel from Thailand to Norway. Due to the allowable ground-bearing pressure being higher in Norway, fewer axle lines of SPMT were needed( 264) for the load-in operation.
The substations were driven off the vessel and taken to Aibel’ s yard near the quayside. There, they were placed onto temporary supports for the final fabrication work to take place.
Once each substation was completed, a total of 36 weighing jacks and loadcells performed a weighing operation. This process was repeated three times to get an average measurement and determine the final weight and COG.
For the final load-out operation, 344 axle lines of SPMT were used to accommodate the additional weight of the now-installed electrical transformer equipment.
Mammoet supported the ballasting of the barge. A total of 16 submersible ballast pumps, each with a capacity of 1000 cubic meters per hour, were used to pump water in and out of the barge to keep it level during load transfer.
The fleet and flexibility to deliver
Performing the operation three times over the course of three years presented valuable learnings that could be put into practice during the next phase to make it more efficient. As a result, the team was able to save a day for the load-out of the final substation, for Dogger Bank C, in Thailand.
“ One of the things Mammoet does so well is to be flexible,” said Dorien Frequin, Branch Manager Norway at Mammoet.“ We help our clients whenever there are small changes to their plans, and our teams work together to adapt to these changes.
“ Our engineering department works closely with our project managers, who work
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