South Africa-based heavy transport and rigging firm Vanguard has delivered 25 wind turbines from the port of Richards Bay to the Ummbila wind farm near Bethal, a journey of around 550 km.
Vanguard’s scope of work took place over an eight-month period. Each turbine delivery consisted of 13 abnormal loads, 10 of which required police escorts given their dimensions. Among these components were 90 m wind turbine blades.
The project marks the first time that wind turbines have been discharged at the port of Richards Bay and the first time such components have been transported within the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. To establish a viable route for these loads, Vanguard carried out route studies and collaborated with authorities at both provincial and district levels across 10 South African jurisdictions.
Vanguard’s wind blade shunt trailers, which the company added to its fleet earlier this year, were deployed for vessel discharge activities for the firsty time on a wind project with this scope of work. Enabling direct offloading of the blades from the vessel, the trailers reduced the need for double handling and streamlining operations within the busy port environment.
“Transporting the largest wind blades in South Africa is a great achievement for the team and, to the best of our knowledge, the longest to be transported across the African continent,” said Ryan Hoskings, director at Vanguard.
Vanguard’s wind blade shunt trailers were used for two simultaneous offloading operations earlier this year, which HLPFI reported.
