MAXIMUM REACH ENTERPRISES

1853 Wellington Court

Henderson, NV 89014
Ph: 702 547 1564
kent.goodman @ cox.net
www.maximumreach.com

21 November 2011

INTRODUCTION
TO
HEAVY HAUL TRAILERS
Part 1 of 2
(Contains the first basic type of heavy haul trailers)
The hauling of heavy construction equipment is a fascinating thing to behold. It usually takes months of
planning and preparation before the actual move is made. Sometimes, special transportation equipment has to
be fabricated for that move to make it happen or to be street legal. If all of the above is carefully planned and
reviewed, then the move itself usually looks very easy and simple.
There are basically three types of heavy haul trailers:
1.

The lowboy type trailers with many axles, which must be street legal and usually can travel up to
35 mph legally .

2.

The pull type modular trailers that have many axles, are very seldom street legal, travel up to 35
mph and usually used for off highway moves.

3.

The self propelled modular trailers (SPMTs) that have many axles, are very seldom street legal,
travel at a maximum of 5 mph and are most always used for off highway moves.

NOTE: If the numbers are not readable in the photos and drawings in the presentation, then either go to view
and zoom to 200 % or click on the drawing and pull it down from the bottom right corner until things
are legible.

LOWBOY TYPE TRAILERS:

I will first address the lowboy type trailers and the fabrication that makes them work, ie, axle width, axle
spacing, axle loading, method of supporting the load, etc. The method of supporting the load is usually one of
the following, Schnabel hitch, bridge beams, or lowboy.
See the drawing below for an example of a special 9 axle lowboy with a configuration that will haul 100 tons in
Nevada. Note that the trailer behind the tractor with axle lines 4 & 5 is usually called a jeep.
Sometimes the rear trailers on lowboy type trailers are connected to the load with a tongue and all steering
comes from the prime movers. But, most rear trailers are steered independently from the front trailer by a tiller
man and an auxiliary engine with a hydraulic pump, very similar to steering a fire truck. The tiller man has a
cab mounted somewhere on the rear trailer. Jakes placed a cab on both sides of the rear trailer so the tiller man
could move to that side of the trailer where he needed to see better.

10 WIDE, 9 AXLE LOWBOY

In addition to the movable fifth wheel on the tractor, there is a movable fifth wheel on the jeep (see axle lines 4
& 5). The location of the swivel connection for the rear trailer (see axle lines 6 through 9) is fixed so that 50%
of the vertical reaction at that point goes to axle lines 6 & 7 and the other 50% goes to axle lines 8 & 9. The
heavy haul contractor laid out this move on paper and then pre-set the locations of the fifth wheels so that when
the load was located on a pre-determined location on the low boy, the axle loadings would not exceed the
allowable axle loadings. This heavy load would require low speed, pilot cars, special permits, special move
times, etc., which all cost money. So shippers try to use the smallest trailer configuration that they can.
The calculations and diagrams at the bottom of the drawing are for tipping stability. Note in the stability
triangle, that the CG is 1.5 from either edge and the resulting angle of stability is 9.46 degrees. As a rule of
thumb, if this angle is greater than 8 degrees, then the load is stable. What I like to do is make a common sense
check and relate it to a 5:1 safety factor. For example, for a 10 width trailer (120), the maximum out of level
sideways based on the 9.46 degrees is 19.72. Dividing the 19.72/5 = a safety factor of 3.94. Common sense
tells me that the trailer platform can be kept level within 3.95 during travel, maybe push it to 8 for slowly
getting on and off of the highway.
Structural stability is not considered for this type of trailer as the street legal requirement prevents the trailer
components, ie, tires, hydraulics, etc, from being overloaded.
The photo below shows a move that we made when I was with Jakes where we transported a 425,000 lbs.
autoclave from Salt Lake City to Carlin, NV, a distance of 275 miles. Note that bridge beams were used in a

Schnabel fashion, ie, 1-1/8 lashing was connected to the ends of the bridge beams and went over the autoclave
and other 1-1/8 lashing was connected inboard to the bridge beams and went under the autoclave between the
permanent saddles and the tangent lines of the heads. See the bottom photo for a clearer picture of the lashing.

JAKES 17 AXLE TRAILER

For this move, we got a little more than $2.00 per mile for our trailer. We actually got $1,000 per mile or
$275,000 for the total move. This transporter is a 14 wide 17 axle (not counting the push tractors axles or the
dollies under the autoclave) and has 132 tires. The four 50 ton dollies (two on either side of the autoclave) were
required on the Interstate I-80. Note that they were removed when we reached the mine road. These trailers
had a total of 30 of vertical stroke in the cylinders. After positioning the autoclave over the foundation, it was
lowered down over the anchor bolts using the hydraulic cylinders. Most heavy haul trailers have this ability.
The drawing below shows a lowboy configuration for Jakes trailer instead of bridge beams like in the
autoclave photo but the rest of the trailer is the same. Note that the spacing between tandem axles for the 14
wide trailer is 6 and the spacing from centerline to centerline of tandem axles is 18-1. In the Western states,
18mimimum spacing center to center of tandem axles is the magic number for the greatest allowable loading
for highway transportation. At the top of the drawing, it shows the allowable loading for tandem axles in this
configuration is 66,700 lbs. compared to 34,000 lbs. for the 10 wide, 9 axle lowboy above with 11 spacing.
Also note that the tare weight for most of the tandem axles is 14,000 lbs.
The load to each axle for the tractor and the two axle jeep was maintained by setting the positions of the fifth
wheels of both the jeep and tractor. The load to each axle for the four axle trailer and the eight axle trailer was

maintained by the use of nitrogen accumulators, one for each cylinder. This way if the ram in one of the
cylinders extended because the four tires fell down into a pothole in the road, the pressure in the cylinder
remained the same at all times and the trailer stayed level or at the same gradient.

JAKES 17 AXLE LOWBOY TRAILER

The trailer shown in the photo below is a Trail King 17 axle trailer owned by Savage in Salt Lake City & is
shown transporting the second autoclave from SLC to Carlin, NV.

TRAIL KING 17 AXLE TRAILER OWNED BY SAVAGE

As the trailer is only 12 wide with 13 from center of tandem axles, note that Savage had to use six 50 ton
dollies to make this load street legal.

The trailer shown below is a Trail Star 17 axle trailer, another version of Trail Kings 17 axle trailer. Note that
this trailer uses a Schnabel hitch to carry the transformer, where in the photo above, a lowboy and bridge beams

were used. It just goes to show that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Note that the beams pin connect
to the bottom of the transformer to carry the tension and have push pads at the top to carry the compression.

11 WIDE 17 AXLE TRAIL STAR TRAILER

The trailer shown below is a Trail King 19 axle trailer hauling a nacelle for a wind turbine. Note that this trailer
has tridam axles (three axle group), and probably would not be used in the Western States. Note that the nacelle
weighs 192,000 lbs.

12 WIDE 19 AXLE TRAILER

Another way to transport heavy loads is by using a series of 50 ton dollies configured under support beams.
The trailer in the photo below ( I apologize for it blurriness) shows how Bigge/Shaughnessy configured sixteen
50 ton dollies together with support beams to move a large transformer.

20 WIDE, 16 AXLE DOLLY TRAILER

If you enlarge the view below, you will see that the trailer is 20 wide, with 9 between tandem axles and 13.5
from center of tandem to center of tandem axles. The payload is 613,280 lbs. The trailer was street legal.
Each dolly has a 50 ton cylinder with an 18 stroke that is located between the two axles. The front axle of each
dolly is castered so that tongues are not required to keep the dollys tracking with the frames and following the
prime mover. It is very much like pulling your office chair around and watching the castered rollers follow the
path of the chair. The rear trailer is steered by a tiller man where the front four dollys have a horizontal
hydraulic ram that steers them and the others just follow in suite.
The only real problem is that a dolly trailer cannot be backed up. To change the direction of travel, all of the
dollys rams must be extended and cribbing placed under the support beams. The rams can then be retracted
and the dollys turned 180 degrees and reinstalled under the support beams. So the transportation
superintendent must plan his route very carefully so that he can enter the site and stage the payload under the
offloading equipment the first time. The beauty of this system is that it can be transported to the load out site on
floats and quickly assembled into the hauling configuration with a relative small assist crane.

20 WIDE 16 AXLE DOLLY TRAILER

The photo below shows a 14 wide x 10 axle dolly trailer hauling a 150 ton refinery vessel. Note that there are
actually five 50 ton dollys under each side beam. Two cross beams were bolted between the side beams and
the saddles of the vessel rested on them for transportation.

14 WIDE, 10 AXLE DOLLY TRAILER

END OF PART 1

PULL TYPE MODULAR TRAILERS And SELF PROPELLED MODULAR TRAILERS

will be covered in Part 2 of 2.

MAXIMUM REACH ENTERPRISES

1853 Wellington Court
Henderson, NV 89014
Ph: 702 547 1564
kent.goodman @ cox.net
www.maximumreach.com

22 November 2011

INTRODUCTION
TO
HEAVY HAUL TRAILERS
Part 2 of 2
(Contains the last two types of heavy haul trailers)

PULL TYPE MODULAR TRAILERS:

The two photos shown below show a 150 Te (metric ton) vessel being moved by utilizing two hydraulic trailers.
Each trailer is 3 meters wide and has 6 axle lines. The payload for this type of trailer is approximately 26 Te
per axle line, so the trailers are each good for 156 Te. The weight of the trailer, tires and axles is approximately
4 Te per axle line. I want to point out here that when a trailer is called out at say a 6 axle trailer, that it actually
means 6 axles lines and that there are actually 12 axles, two per axle line. This will be true for either the pull
type or the SPMTs. Each axle & wheel assembly for a pull type trailer has four tires where a SPMT has two
tires.

TWO, 3 METER WIDE, 6 AXLE TRAILERS HAULING A 150 Te REFINERY VESSEL

Two things that need careful attention with pull type trailers are. 1) The size of the prime mover and the
amount of counterweight required for the worst slope needs to the calculated. There are several sources

available to calculate these values. More on this later. 2) The front pull type trailer will follow the prime
mover in turning as the steering of the trailer comes about when the tongue moves manual linkage connected to
each wheel assembly. The maximum turning angle is approximately 55 degrees. This is the maximum angle
that the tires will turn relative to the centerline of the trailer. The rear trailer is steered by the use of an auxiliary
engine, but can still only turn up to 55 degrees. The trailers are hard to back up so the rigging superintendent
must lay out the route so that the load can be staged under the crane(s) hook the first time.
Note in the photos for this move that staging beams are located under the saddles and they stick about 1 meter
past the side of the trailers. These beams are required to stage the vessel on stanchions at a laydown yard.
More will be said about this topic later. Also note that bolsters are being used under each staging beam. They
can add as much as 0.5 to 1.0 m to the overall height of the load. They are required for turning, unless the
trailers can be driven in a straight line.

TWO, 3 METER WIDE, 6 AXLE TRAILERS HAULING A 150 Te REFINERY VESSEL

The photo below shows two pull type trailers moving a 600 Te vertical vessel. The trailers are each 3 meters
wide and are separated about 2 meters from each other to provide better stability for the high combined center
of gravity of the vessel and trailers. This load was rolled off from an ocean going heavy lift ship and moved up
a 6 % ramp in order to reach the construction site. The payload capacity of these trailers was 16 axle lines x 2
trailers x 26 Te per axle line = 832 Te.

TWO, 3 METER WIDE, 16 AXLE TRAILERS HAULING A 600 Te REFINERY VESSEL

Tipping, Structural and Ground Bearing (Applicable for pull type trailers and SPMTs)
Moving heavy loads on any type of heavy haul trailer requires careful planning from ground bearing, tipping
stability and structural stability to make sure that the road & trailer are not over stressed or that the load is not
damaged by overstressing or over turning. Calculations should be made for each movement to insure that the
load can be safely transported. The following example of a pull type trailer will be used to show how these
calculations are made. It is applicable to SPMTs as well.
Shown below is a trailer configuration proposed by a contractor. There are several things of note in this
drawing. First, it shows the vertical vessel being transported on one pull type trailer, single wide x 16 axles
with a total load of 320 Te + 68 Te of trailer weight = 388 Te. This results in an axle line loading = 24.25 Te.
Each axle line has two axles which = 12.13 Te per axle. Each axle has four tires which = 3.03 Te. per tire. The
ground bearing pressure is 5.39 Te/sq meter and is based on the shadow area of the trailer. For example, note
the 1.5 meter between axles lines that I marked on the drawing. It is approximately 0.75 m from the centerline
of the end axles to the ends of the trailer platform. Therefore the length of the trailer is 15 x 1.5m + 1.5m for
the two ends = 24m. The width of the trailer is 3m (not shown on this drawing) so the shadow area of the trailer
is 3 x 24 = 72 sq. m. The ground bearing pressure is therefore 388 Te/72 = 5.39 Te/sq. m. In Europe it is
common practice to extend the shadow area out and down from around 0.5 m to 1.0 m (at a 45 degree angle)
and use this as the adjusted shadow area. If we use a 0.5 m extension, then the shadow area becomes 4 m x 25
m = 100 sq. m and the GBP = 3.88 Te/sq. m. Using this adjusted shadow area could mean in our case of being
able to use a dock that has a maximum capacity of say 5 Te/sq. m.
Note that the drawing is marked up showing three axle lines outside the saddles. In order to insure that the
trailer frame is not overstressed in bending, most trailer manufactures limit the number of axle lines outside the

supports or saddles to three axles. Otherwise, a buildup frame would have to be fabricated and laid on the trailer
platform and the load positioned on it.

16 AXLE SINGLE WIDE TRAILER

In the drawing below, I have reworked the weight figures given by the contractor based on the latest
information for the move. Note that the total weight of the load, lift attachments, the saddles, weight
contingency and the weight of the trailers = 447 Te. The weight I used for the trailers of 75 Te included the
staging beams. I took the dimensions shown from the contractors dimensional drawing. As you can see, I try
to always be as conservative as possible.
What is not shown on the above drawing is the maximum capacity per axle line for the trailer which is 32 Te.
Or 16 Te per axle.

With any pull type or SPMT haul, the contractor must show on his drawing the way the trailer(s) are plumbed,
ie, are they in a three point hydraulic or a four point hydraulic suspension mode. Bear in mind that there are
several ways to plumb a trailer in a three point hydraulic suspension but the one chosen is because it usually
provides the best tipping stability, ie, the greatest horizontal distanced between the CG and legs of the stability
triangle. Note in the calculations below that this trailer is in a three point hydraulic suspension mode with
twelve axles in the left group at point A and 10 axles in each of the two groups on the right at points B & C. Z
is the horizontal distance from the CG to the edges of the stability triangle. First, the maximum CG shift is
calculated that will overstress the trailer. The limit of overloading is usually in the tires as they are usually the
weakest link. The CG shift usually occurs when the trailer is driven on one side of the road that has a crown or
on a curve with a super elevation.
I need to point out here that whenever possible, the CG of the load should be positioned on the CENTERLINES
of the trailer configuration. This makes it easy to determine how much load is being carried by each hydraulic
group or point. If the CG of the load is not on the centerlines, then a more complicated method has to be
employed to determine the load to each group.

In the calculations below, the vertical distance Y is calculated, which is the maximum the trailer platform can be
out of level before it goes into a tipping mode or becomes overstress structurally. Note that the worst case for Y
is for structural stability and is 102 mm. Using a 5:1 factor of safety, this becomes 20 mm. As it is pretty hard
to keep a trailer platform level within 20 mm, I recommended that this load not be hauled in a three point
suspension.

I want to explain the purpose of the sheet below by pointing out that putting a trailer in a four point suspension
is very similar to placing a load on a table top that has one leg shorter than the other three. As the table is
rocked over the two diagonal legs that are the same length, there are times when the total weight of the load and
table are on these two legs with zero load on the short leg and the other long leg. At other times, a small
percentage of the load is carried by the short leg with most of the load divided between the two diagonal legs
whose lengths are the same. When the table rocks the other way, then a small percentage of the load goes to the
other long leg. But the two diagonal legs are always carrying the biggest percentage of the load and at times
each carrying 50% of the load.
From testing, you can see why I recommended that this load not be hauled on a single wide trailer in a four
point hydraulic suspension system. I recommended using double wide trailers. Another reason was because of
the six axles extending beyond the rear saddle.

The drawing below shows that the vessel was actually transported on a double wide 12 axle line trailer. Note
that having 24 axle lines under the trailer reduced the GBP to 5.17 Te/sq. m.

12 AXLE DOUBLE WIDE TRAILER

SELF PROPELLELD MODULAR TRAILERS:

The Self Propelled Modular Trailers are very seldom street legal because of their high load capacity, are not
usually allowed by the Department Of Transportation (DOT) on USA highways, and travel between 3 & 5 mph.
The photo below shows split trailers where each trailer is 6 axle double wide. They are moving a horizontal
storage vessel usually referred to as a bullet. Note that with split trailers, bolsters must be used so that the
trailers can turn under the bullet. The exception is if the split trailers only go in a straight line. Go to slide show
number 3 on my website (www.maximumreach.com) to see the full move of the five 390 Te bullets and where
the bolsters were removed in order to go straight under twin pipe racks. Each trailer is steered by an operator
with a computer control box hanging from his chest. The slide show shows that both trailers are turned 90
degrees to the centerline of the bullet at the end of the move in order to move the bullet over the foundation.
The travel speed is so slow that the two operators can coordinate the two trailers by synchronizing the travel
pressure from the power packs. The front operator will be the lead operator and the other operator will match
his movements and speed.

TWO 6 AXLE DOUBLE WIDE SELF PROPELLED MODULAR TRAILERS

The photo below shows a 28 axle double wide SPMT trailer moving a 1,460 Te reactor. This is the longest
trailer that I have seen moving a single vessel. The length made it pretty hard to make the turn on some corners.
One operator controlled this trailer and he could make the trailer steer in the following modes ie, crab anywhere
from 1 to 90 degrees to the centerline of the trailer, or turn around the center point of the trailer ((carousel
mode).
The reactor on the trailer is blocked so that there are not more than three axles extending beyond a saddle or
support. Note that the basering has a 75 mm plate bolted to it that is square on the bottom and is resting on
some dunnage for support. This plate was also used to tail up the reactor. Also note that there are four saddles
under the load. These are not required for bending in the reactor as it has a 12 wall thickness, but they are for
spreading out the load first to the ships bulkheads during ocean shipment and then to the SPMT platform trailer
during land shipment. This requires a lot of communication between the fabricator, the ocean shipper and the
heavy haul contractor to make sure the saddles are placed where they are acceptable to all parties. Of course,
the design of the saddles was made by Fluor and included in the specifications for the fabrication of the reactor.
This reactor was made by the Japanese Steel Works (JSW).
In 1995, the cost of this trailer was $50,000 per axle line or $100,000 per axle line for a double wide. For 28
axle lines, the total cost of this trailer would have been $2,800,000

28 AXLE, DOUBLE WIDE SPMT TRAILER

Steering Self Propelled Modular Trailers:
In the photo below, you can see that each wheel assembly is made up of an axle with two tires and it swivels on
a plate at the top for turning. Two weldments that are pinned together connect the axle to the swivel plate at the
top. They form sort of a knee joint. A vertical hydraulic cylinder between them provides the power to move
the platform up or down, usually about +/- 250 mm. Normally during a move, the knee joints are pointed
forward in the direction of travel. One operator is able to steer multi wheel assemblies because there is a
potentiometer located in the computer in the operators control box and a potentiometer is located in the swivel
plate at the top of each wheel assembly. When the operator moves the joy stick to say make a carousel turn, the
computer sends a signal to each of the potentiometers in the wheel assemblies and tells each one of them how
many degrees to turn and which way to turn, ie, the end axles would turn the most and in opposite directions to
each other. It is interesting to watch the wheel assemblies turn in say the carousel mode, as they do not all turn
at once. It is the law of the path of least resistance and that is how they turn, ie, some not turning until the
others have already turned.
Something that the operator has to take in to account is the position of the tires under the centerline of the
swivel plate at the top of each wheel assembly. During the normal move, the trailer platform height is such that
the tires are located pretty much under the centerline of the swivel plate. If the trailer platform is raised to full
height by extending the cylinder, then the lower part of the knee joint is rotated toward the front of the trailer
with the result that the tires end up in front of the centerline of the swivel plate. If the trailer platform is lower
to its lowest level by retracting the cylinder, then the lower part of the knee joint is rotated back toward the rear
of the trailer platform with the result that the tires end up in back of the centerline of the swivel plate.

What this means is that the operator has to take into account this forward/backward shift when setting a load
down into place on the centerlines of the foundation, ie, if he stopped the trailer where the load is directly over
the centerlines of the foundation and lowers the trailer from a normal height to a lower level, the platform will
shift backwards a few millimeters. He would have to move the trailer slightly forward before setting the load.

Calculating Tractive Effort:

Just as you have to figure the size of the prime mover and the weight of the counterweight for pull type trailers,
the number of drive motors has to be determined for SPMTs to provide the proper tractive effort. On SPMTs,
there are not drive motors on every axle. For example, a standard six axle trailer has four drive motors located
on the corner axles so that if the trailer is moving sideways for example, the drive power will be symmetrical
about the centerline. Most manufacturers provide trailers with more drive motors than normal, ie, Scheuerle
makes a super six axle trailer that has six drive motors. I should point out here that the standard size trailers
used to make up large configurations are the four axle single wide trailer and the six axle single wide trailer.
These are then bolted end to end or side by side to make up the configuration required.
As an example of how to calculate the number of drive motors required for a given load, see the calculation
sheet below that was provide by a transportation contractor where a 1,417 Te crusher was being moved up a 6
% grade. Note that the contractor used 9 % total resistance x 1,417 Te = 127.53 Te of Tractive effort required.
He then divided the 127.53 by 158.4 to get the percent of utilization of 80.5 %

I felt that the contractors calculations were a little light and did not take into account stopping and starting on
the 6% slope. So, I used another way of calculating the tractive effort required:
3 % Rolling Resistance:
0.03 *1417 Te = 42.51 Te
3 % Internal Resistance:
0.03*1417 Te = 42.51 Te
6 % Grade:
0.06*1417 Te = 85.02 Te
Total
= 170.04 Te
Reserve to accelerate to 3 kph in 60 seconds
Total

0.02*1417 / 9.81 = 3.32 Te

= 173.36 Te

Utilization

= 88% (173.36 Te/198 Te from above sheet)

Some sources recommend using 4 % for rolling resistance, which would increase the tractive effort required to
187.53 Te for a utilization of 95 %.
I made the above calculation to demonstrate that the actual demand for tractive effort could be up to 95 % of
capacity. To be on the safe side, I recommended to the client that the drive capacity be increased from 198 Te
to 220 Te. Swapping out two regular six-axle trailers for two super six trailers could add 4 more drive motors
and 22 Te of tractive effort. This way, even if the trailer was stopped on the 6 % slope, it could start again
without any trouble.
Two power packs were used for this move that had sufficient capacity to make each drive motor put out 5.5 Te.
There should always be a fair amount of over or reserve capacity in the power packs due to the fact that during
driving there is capacity required to operate the steering motors and to activate the pumps for leveling. If the
power packs are just barely large enough for travel and the transporter needs to be leveled, the transporter will
just stop moving. This could be problematic on a hill because all hydraulic motors dont start at the same exact
moment due to internal friction, etc, so the wheels for one motor may start slipping first, which could cause the
compacted soil to be disturbed and the trailer could get stuck.

Staging Vessels:
Quite often, equipment is brought to a construction site before the foundations are ready, so the equipment
needs to be staged until it is ready to be set. In order to eliminate a crane for offloading and reloading, the
equipment is set on stanchions that are high enough for the trailer to be lowered and driven out from under the
load. Most trailers platforms can be adjusted in height from 1.0 m +/- 250 mm. In order to make staging
happen, the saddles of the equipment must be placed on staging beams already on the trailers. The staging
beams need to extend past each side of the trailers by about 1.0 m. If the equipment is heavy, steel load
spreaders that are say 2 m wide x 6 m long should be buried at ground level. Stanchions that are made of 1 m
diameter heavy wall pipe with cover plates x 1 m high or reinforced concrete that is 1 m sq. x 1 m high are
placed on the load spreaders. When the load reaches the staging area the trailer platform is raised higher than
the stanchions, the trailer is driven between the stanchions, lowered down until the staging beams are resting on
the stanchions and then driven out from under the load. The load would be picked up in the reverse order.
The photo below shows the load spreaders and stanchions already attached to the staging beams and are being
used as a work platform for the riggers to ride on. When the load reaches the staging area, the trailer platform is
merely lowered until the load spreaders are resting on the ground and trailer can be driven out from under the
load. The load spreaders do not have to be buried in this case as there is clearance between them for the tires.
Generally, the trailer tires just clear the edge of the stanchions, thus the need to bury the load spreaders.

LOAD SPREADERS AND PIPE STANCHIONS CONNECTED TO THE STAGING BEAMS

Jacking Vessels Down Or Up Into Place:
In some cases, the load is driven to the foundation and needs to be jacked up or down into place.
An example of this is shown in the drawing below where a 978 Te reactor was staged on load spreaders,
cribbing and 8 climbing jacks. The trailer was then lowered and driven out from under the load. An upending
device was then mounted on the trailer platform. The reactor had to then be raised 1.0 m so the trailers could
then be driven back under the reactor.
Before starting to jack up the reactor, the climbing jacks were bolted to the jacking pockets so that they didnt
have to be manhandled during the jacking process. The wooden cribbing used was 100 mm square x 1.0 m
asobe hard wood. This type of hardwood is so dense that it will not float in water and is almost indestructible.
The eight climbing jacks had 150 Te capacity each and were designed with a round heavy plate that connected
to the bottom of the ram.
The procedure for jacking up the reactor was to first extend all eight rams about 150 mm, then placing cribbing
on either side of the ram plates and then laying strips of 20 mm thick steel plate x 100 mm wide x 1.0 m long on
top of each piece of cribbing. The rams were then retracted and the weight of the reactor was supported by the
cribbing and steel plates on the outside of the ram plates. Cribbing was then pushed under the ram plates and
the rams were once again extended about 150 mm. The steel plate strips were removed and cribbing was then
added next to the ram plates only at 90 degrees to the layer below. The steel strips were again placed over the
cribbing and the rams were retracted. Cribbing was then pushed under the ram plates and the process began all
over. The steel strips were required to provide clearance so that cribbing could be pushed under the jacks each
time. To lower the reactor, the above procedure would be reversed.

By looking closely at the drawing below, it can be seen that the CG is not located symmetrically between the
four saddles. If you will go to quiz number 8 on my website, the question will be asked to determine the actual
load to each jack. I will leave it up to each of you to do this for your own edification.

There are several types of climbing jacks available. You have seen one type above. Another type is shown
below on the drawing by Van Seumeren. Note that with these jacks, the steel strips are not required as the jack
base is contoured to allow clearance for the cribbing to be pushed under the ram plate.

The series of photos below show an equipment module being moved onto site and then being jacked down
using climbing jacks. Note the wet conditions, with is usually the case when an operation is being made in the
field. Murphy will make sure of that.

EQUIPMENT MODULE ARRIVING AT SITE

CRIBBING AND CLIMBING JACKS IN PLACE

Note in the photo below the baskets that the cribbing is stored in for easy reach and transportation. Also note
the power pack/pump at the center of the module. This photo also shows a third type of climbing jack.

JACKING DOWN READY TO BEGIN

JACKING DOWN HAS BEGUN

THE MODULE DOWN ON THE FOUNDATION

JACKING COMPLETE

SUMMARY:
This presentation has only been an introduction to heavy hauling. If you want more information, just go to my
website and click on my Partner link at the bottom of the home page and it will take you to The Works
International. This is Marco Van Daals website on transportation. You might want to even consider
purchasing his book titled The Art Of Heavy Transport. I know that several of you already have. Marco can
tell you how to calculate the size of the prime mover and the counterweight required for a pull type trailer.
THE END