Transport of a 185 tonne autoclave from the factory in Germany to China

Multimodal heavy transport of a 185 tonne autoclave from Coesfeld to China

The transport of a 33m long and 185 tonne pressure vessel to China, in the Far East, was not a problem for the heavy-duty experts at Rolf Riedl GmbH.

The planning phase for this project alone took several months.

During this time, the experts at Rolf Riedl GmbH, together with their heavy-load contractor Max Goll, decided on a suitable transport vehicle. A solution was devised to utilise a semi-trailer with 22 axles pulled by a 4-axle tractor unit.

As the container measured 6.60 metres in diameter, in addition to the dimensions and weights mentioned above, a road survey was essential.

In close consultation with the responsible licensing authorities, a route was selected which was ultimately approved by the technicians after static calculations of the bridge structures.

Following the loading at the plant, the heavy transport travelled out of the Coesfeld machine manufacturer’s yard late in the evening and set off on the first part of its journey towards the inland port of Lüdinghausen.

The transport took a total of 3 nights to cover the distance of around 50 kilometres.

There were numerous obstacles along the route, which specialist contractors were required to resolve, such as closing roads, dismantling traffic lights and lifting cables.

The bridge crossing

Another highlight came before the crossing of a bridge:

To achieve an even better weight distribution and further reduce the axle loads, 12 additional axle lines were coupled to the semi-trailer before the bridge. This meant that the total length of the transport arrangement was now 75 metres.

After the bridge, the 12 axles were removed again and the transport travelled towards Lüdinghausen with 22 axles.

Once it arrived in Lüdinghausen, 2x 500 tonne cranes transhipped it to a barge. From there, the transport travelled along the Dortmund-Ems Canal to Rotterdam.

Upon its arrival in Rotterdam, the autoclave was transferred directly from the barge to an ocean-going vessel, transporting it to China in just under 5 weeks.