Megalift transported seven large reactor boilers weighing up to 850 tons from Malaysia to Singapore for a chemical plant. This included maneuvering an 80-meter long boiler through small towns. Megalift used Goldhofer's highly maneuverable THP/SL modular transport systems with 45-ton axles to complete the challenging moves, including unloading a boiler from a cargo ship in Singapore harbor. Thanks to the reliable equipment from Goldhofer, the transports were successful and the chemical plant remains on schedule.

1. Mega Project for Megalift
THP/SL Axles supported with a Self
Propelled Modul from Goldhofer
Transport Seven Reactor Boilers
to Singapore
A huge operation for the tire industry: several heavy-load modular
systems of the THP/SL type from the Goldhofer Aktiengesellschaft of
Memmingen, Germany have now substantially participated in what is
currently the most important project for producing butyl rubber, the raw
material for rubber production. The German specialty chemical group
Lanxess is building a new plant for the production of butyl rubber, a high-
tech material that is used above all in manufacturing tires. The plant will
be located in Singapore on Jurong Island with an area of around 200,000
square meters (around 2.2 million square feet) with an investment of
more than 400 million euros.
For the construction of the new production facility, seven gigantic reactor
boilers with a length of up to 80 meters (262 feet) and a total weight of
around 850 tons had to be transported from the manufacturer KNM in
Malaysia to the construction site on Jurong Island. A mammoth task for
Goldhofer’s customer Megalift headquartered in Selangor, Malaysia, since
the boilers had a volume of up to 2,428.8 cubic meters (85,772.3 cubic
feet).

2. Mega-challenge for Megalift: the 80 meter-long
reactor boiler had to execute ninety degree curves
in a narrow space on THP/SL axle lines from
Goldhofer
The KNM project was divided into a total of three transports. First of all, the
heavy load experts Megalift brought three boilers with lengths of 52.05
meters, 44.65 meters, and 32.95 meters to the construction site on Jurong
Island. Then in the second dispatch, the two longest boilers (80 meters and
69.65 meters) were taken to the destination. Finally, transport number
three was just a mere formality, since the loads of 23.1 meters and 17.06
meters no longer posed any excessively great challenges to Megalift.
For the transport of the largest boiler, Megalift required several days. Just
the twenty kilometer (twelve mile) journey alone from the KNM plant in
Melaka to the city's port took twelve hours. Then the mega-cargo was
loaded with the help of the THP/SL modules from Goldhofer onto a so-called
“RoRo” (roll on, roll off) cargo ship, in order to then cover the 250 kilometer
(155 mile) voyage to Singapore by sea. From the port in Singapore, the
reactor boiler traveled on the Goldhofer module to the Lanxess construction
site. RoRo ships are large vessels that transport loads using the roll-on, roll
off process.

3. Throughout the entire process, the greatest challenge for the specialists
from Megalift was the first stage of the transport – the twenty kilometer
distance over land from the KNM factory premises to the city’s port.
Because to do so, the 80 meter long reactor columns weighing 271.41 tons
had to be maneuvered through villages and on secondary roads. Especially
tricky was the trip through the small town of Sungai Udang, in which there
are only two-lane roads.
For all of the transports, Megalift made use of the especially highly efficient
THP/SL modular systems from Goldhofer which, with 45 tons of axle load,
an axle compensation of 600 mm., and a steering angle of 55°, are
enormously agile and flexible. For the eighty meter-long colossus, a total of
thirty-six axle lines were put to use. In the front, the boiler lay on two times
twelve THP/SL axles that were coupled in parallel combination, and in the
rear, it was carried by another twelve axles lines. The system at the rear
was supported by a hydrostatically driven modular transporter of the PST/
SL type with a 360 kW power pack, in order to achieve the greatest possible
maneuverability and agility as well as hill-climbing ability.
Just for the transport of the first five reactor boilers, Megalift needed a total
of more than one month with immense expenditures of time and effort
involved. Permits had to be obtained, and then for the transport itself,
highways, secondary roads, and local thoroughfares had to be closed to
other traffic, while on top of that, road barriers and other obstacles had to
be taken down so that the mega-freight could be transported on land.

4. And always present were the THP/SL axle lines from Goldhofer’s high-end
heavy load series. The THP/SL systems were used above all for the
transport of heavy loads in the off-road area. As a result of their robust
construction and their high bending moment, they guarantee the highest
safety and functionality even with poor ground conditions.
Thanks to the transports running smoothly and the installation of the plant
components, Lanxess is right on schedule and can adhere to its planned
start of production in the first quarter of 2013.
Up to the last stage: the THP/SL axle lines from
Goldhofer with the unloading of the 80 meter boiler
from the RoRo cargo ship in the port of Singapore.
Up to the last stage: the THP/SL axle lines from
Goldhofer with the unloading of the 80 meter boiler
from the RoRo cargo ship in the port of Singapore.
“Thanks to the innovative technology from Goldhofer, everything worked
smoothly,” said Adrian Tan, senior general manager of Megalift. “We can
rely upon our Goldhofer equipment 100% at any time. And only if all of the
parameters are correct can such mega-projects be successfully
implemented.”
Special transport report