Black Rock Sands Beach Landing (Traeth y Graig Ddu)

National Grid commissioned the transportation of an electricity transformer by sea. The transformer, which weighed 128.5 tonnes, was delivered onto Black Rock Sands Beach near Porthmadog, Wales, via an 80m (262ft) barge otherwise known as the Terra Marique vessel.

Customer Name
National Grid
Project and Location
Black Rock Sands Beach Landing (Traeth y Graig Ddu), near Porthmadog in Wales
Products (Inc Quantity)

400 3m x 2.4m LionTrak panels and 120m heras fence panels. The Trakway installation was carried out over two days.

Sunbelt Rentals Trakway was given the task of supplying trakway access to enable the safe discharge of the transformer from the vessel to the beach. The transformer was loaded onto a multi-axle trailer with a gross weight of 153 tonnes. It was vital that trakway was used for this project to enable safe transportation of the transformer and to ensure that the equipment and transporting vehicles did not sink into the sandy terrain.

The day before the arrival of the transformer, our Trakway team installed a 30m x 30m compound to enable safe unloading of all materials to site. At 7am the following morning the Terra Marique approached Black Rock Sands Beach on the high tide to settle on the beach as the tide receded. At this point our crews started installing a 330m long x 6m wide access road. As the tide went out, 200 Trakway panels had to be installed to the stern of the vessel within just four hours. Ramps were then fitted and the load was safely discharged to the end of the access road.

By this time the tide had turned and was closing in to refloat the Terra Marique. All 200 panels then had to be recovered above the high tide water line within three hours, eliminating the need to be counter weighted with 1.2 tonne concrete blocks. This was a time sensitive and highly pressurised project where our crews really were working against the clock to get the Trakway installed and recovered again.

The project involved the installation and de-installation of a total of 400 3m x 2.4m LionTrak panels, 120m Heras fence panels, four installation crews and two articulated lorries. Our heavy duty LionTrak system is now in its fifth generation and it allows incredibly high loads to be carried across poor terrain - in this case sand.

Just wanted to pass on thanks to your team for the Black Rock Sands job. The job was a textbook operation with all your employees working safely and promptly. The crews were all a credit to your company. We look forward to working together in the future.
Sam Smith, Project Manager, Mammoet UK

 

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