ALE Heavylift build new 600 tonne high capacity girder frame

ALE Heavylift build new 600 tonne high capacity girder frame

ALE Heavylift has built a new high capacity girder frame, the AL600.

The AL600 will be able to carry loads up to 600 tonnes – 100 tonnes more than ALE’s current largest frame, the AL500.

The frame will be used to transport loads under small bridges and to reduce axle loadings. When negotiating bridges, the load is suspended in the girder frame with minimum road clearance in order to transport it under the bridge without the need to jack-up the bridge or build huge costly bypasses.

The AL600 is of a modular design, which means that ALE can drive in variable configurations to optimise the transportation of the different types of loads, like steam turbines, generators and transformers. The basic configuration uses the necks, a 15m main beam and 7m load spreaders. By using a smart design and the highest grades of materials, it has a record-breaking self-weight/carrying capacity ratio.

One of its most noteworthy features is that the necks narrow in from the load carrying beams to the tower on the trailer. The ends of the necks are narrower than the trailer width. As a result, the convoy can drive around narrow curves in the road without taking up as much space and needing to remove lamp posts and other obstacles.

The girder frame also has state of the art controls systems for steering, height adjustment, camera systems and shock logging, all operated from the control cabin on the rear trailer. The additional safety features and enhanced stability enables this piece of equipment to stand out amongst others frames currently on the market.

“We wanted to build a transport solution that suited our requirements to transport heavy loads that could be utilised with our current trailer fleet, whilst maintaining safety and low axle loadings,” explained Technical Director Ronald Hoefmans.

“Other standard equipment suppliers couldn’t fulfil our needs and we made the decision to design our own. The AL600 has been designed with strength and operational capabilities like no other frame in the industry.”

Now the AL600 is built, function and load tested in the Netherlands, it will then be shipped to its inaugural project in South America. On its first job in Chile, it will be using 80 axle lines of modular trailers in 2 x 4 file 20 configuration to bring the axle loads within the road limitations. For this job, the 15m main beam is extended with a 5m extension and the load spreaders have a 3.5m extension to reduce the bending moment in the trailers.