A Canadian logistics company was contracted by an Alberta electric utility to transport a fully assembled IP/LP steam turbine from an ocean terminal warehouse in Norfolk, CA for a power plant site in southern Alberta. The project began when a Virginia-based rigging and transportation company was contracted by the client to move the turbine from storage, roll it onto a heavy-duty deck barge, and have it delivered to the Port of Duluth on Lake Superior. Upon arrival, the contractor rolled the turbine off the barge, lifted it using a hydraulic gantry system and transloaded it to a Perkins dual land loading transporter for the difficult inland transportation portion of its journey.

The steam turbine moved by Perkins was 20' - 6" wide and 17' - 6" high weighing a hefty 301,100 lbs. Due to the combination of width and height, the cargo was far too large for dimensional rail transportation from Duluth, MN to an equipment staging location in Aldersyde, AB. After a detailed feasibility and operational study (FOS), Perkins determined the best hauling configuration for the U.S. portion of the move was an 18' - 0" wide 12-line dual lane hydraulic platform trailer. The Canadian portion would then be re-configured to a 16' - 0" wide 14-line dual lane hydraulic platform trailer.

The modular transporter incorporated a gooseneck attachment on the front of the trailer that bridged to the pull tractor's fifth wheel, allowing a transfer of weight onto the tractor's drive axles reducing the overall weight from the trailer axles. The relatively compact combination with an overall length of 128' - 6" proved very maneuverable while retaining the spacings necessary to cross structures according to each state's permit requirements. With a loaded height of 21' - 0", a great deal of project oversight was required by the Perkins team and Project Manager to meet the customer's schedule, the requirements of the many permitting agencies along the route, the necessary state and local patrol escorting needs, and the various utility company's conditions from MN to AB.

Once reaching the MT/AB border, Perkins utilized the hydraulic vertical stroke of its equipment to safely and cost-effectively place the steam turbine onto a temporary elevated storage arrangement to allow the reconfiguration of Perkins modular platform trailer to meet Alberta hauling requirements. With the cargo offloaded to stands, Perkins expert field crew completely changed the configuration by narrowing the 18' - 0" width to 16' - 0" and lengthened the combination to 173' - 0" for crossing southern AB bridges. With the steam turbine self-loaded to the longer, narrower 14-line configuration, Perkins used a pair of counterweited tractors to pull and push the 615,836 lb gross vehicle wegith load to its destination. Perkins completed its delivery safely and effectively to the complete satisfaction of its client.