Meticulous planning by Denholm Global Logistics overcomes rural obstacles

Denholm Global Logistics, member to the Worldwide Project Consortium (WWPC) for the United Kingdom, recently completed a switchgear delivery project from the Scottish seaport town of Grangemouth to the remote Crystal Rig windfarm in southern Scotland.  On paper, there is nothing particularly unique about the dimensions of the 58 units, when compared to other project cargos handled by the Denholm Global Logistics team.  However, the final few miles to reach the rural windfarm location threw up a number of challenges for the team to overcome.

A challenging route to navigate

The single largest switchgear units were 3.4 metres high.  This height would not normally be problematic, until you take into account that the delivery vehicles had to pass under busbars that distribute high voltage electricity – that are also 3.4 metres high.  After successfully navigating under the busbars, the vehicles had to manoeuvre around a sharp 90 degrees turn.  Because of the height restraints, a semi low loader vehicle would normally be used but this type of articulated lorry is unable to handle such sharp bends.  The challenges were clear!

Thorough assessment, meticulous planning

To overcome the sharp turn, the team used a short bed rigid trailer with a scrubber (rear steer) axle, which improves mobility.  This type of vehicle also has air suspension to reduce its height.  To fully enable the units’ safe transit under the busbars, the outer cases were stripped beforehand.  However, because, in doing so, the switchgear lost an element of protection, vehicle lashings were appropriately applied to compensate for this and ensure the switchgear was suitably protected during its final miles of transportation.

Successful delivery

All 58 switchgear units were successfully delivered by Denholm Global Logistics, adding to their record of safe project cargo transportation – regardless of the obstacles.