51
INTERNATIONAL AND SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
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AUGUST 20
13
Heavy transport service provider Behala, had to come up with a different method to
move gas turbines through the Moabit inner city area of Berlin in Germany.
IC
reports
SITE REPORT
Shipping turbines
and sails to the ro-ro loading ramp on the
Charlottenburg Canal, which is close to the
Siemens factory. Using this route, daytime
operations can be permitted as the roads
only need to be closed for a short time.
From there police escort the SPMT to
the Siemens gas turbine production plant.
Once loaded with the turbine, the SPMT
sets off to the ramp on the Charlottenburg
Canal where it is driven onto the Ursus. It
takes three hours by barge to reach Berlin’s
Westhafen. At the terminal the turbine is
lifted onto a barge for the next leg of the
journey to Hamburg’s sea port before it can
be transported elsewhere in Europe and
beyond, to Asia and the USA.
Klaus Günter Lichtfuss, logistics
manager at Behala, said, “The complete
process is running really smoothly;
everything has worked out just as
we wanted.”
Depending on the payload, Behala
deploys the PST/SL modules in a
combination with 12 or 18 axles. Lichtfuss
explains more, “For operations within the
port, we employ two PST/SL modules in a
12-axle side-by-side combination. For ro-ro
work and on the
Ursus
we use a 12-axle
combination coupled end-to-end. For
loads in excess of 300 tonnes, we add a
third module on land for a total of
eighteen axles.”
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Behala loading the Siemens turbine
on 24 axle lines (12 x two-files)
Goldhofer self propelled modular
transporter at the Siemens factory
Self propelled Goldhofer
module transporting the
gas turbine safely along
the roads of Berlin
PHOTO: BEHALA
PHOTO: BEHALA
A
Siemens SGT5-8000H turbine
weighs 440 tonnes and has a power
output of 375 MW. Unlike other
turbines, which are transported out of the
Siemens turbine factory in Germany by
road, SGT5-8000H turbines have to be
transported by water. Weight limits on the
bridges and tunnels in the Moabit district
of Berlin preclude road travel. The journey
from the plant to the Westhafen heavy duty
intermodal terminal was by ship, via the
Charlottenburg Canal.
To overcome the road restrictions,
Behala, Siemens and Berlin Technical
University developed a logistics project,
which included the development of a heavy
duty roll on-roll off shuttle barge named
Ursus
. The research project won the 2012
Berlin Logistics Award.
The Ursus is used in conjunction with a
PST/SL 12 (1+1) self propelled heavy duty
modular transporter (SPMT) system from
Goldhofer in Germany. The system has a
hydrostatic drive and a 360 kW
power pack.
On a typical transportation of an
SGT5-8000H turbine, the Ursus leaves the
Westhafen with the Goldhofer on board
