DAKO Worldwide Transport has returned to the Garabito power plant in Costa Rica 15 years after delivering the original engines to manage the replacement of an engine block.
The work started with a detailed route analysis across Costa Rica to identify bridge and infrastructure limitations that required rethinking the original transport plan.
Then, to reduce the overall transport weight from 105 tons (107 tonnes) to 85 tons (86 tonnes), DAKO, in collaboration with its client, decided to remove the crankshaft from the engine block to move it separately – a key decision that helped the company avoid infrastructure restrictions.
The engine block and crankshaft were subsequently collected from the supplier’s facility in Germany and shipped as breakbulk on a container vessel.
Instead of facing port bottlenecks on the Pacific side, DAKO opted to cross the country from the Caribbean coast to Puntarenas – a route that bypassed congestion and avoided delays at the Panama Canal.
At the plant, the company used a combination of a gantry and a jack-and-slide system to remove the old engine block and generator, manoeuvring them through a tight wall opening with minimal clearance. The new components were then installed using a turntable, sliding system and gantry, with precise positioning of the engine block onto the existing base frame.
