THE ART OF HEAVY LIFTING AND HAULAGE

Despite my strong quest for good (music) sounds, the spine chilling, rhythmic sounds made by a configured set of slow moving, heavy lifting modular platforms, commonly known as hydraulic axles, loaded with a mammoth single load weighing hundreds of metric tons, have always mesmerized me. By virtue of my occupation, I was privileged to be part of some highly skilled heavy lift project engineering teams, managing the whole events right from receiving the super heavy lifts or over dimensional loads under the ship’s hook to delivery upto the designated project site including placement onto the foundation. These deliveries getting executed within a stipulated period of time would eventually transform the construction of any project to attain its shape, as to what we see any industrial plant.

I was reluctantly compelled, at times, to spend few consecutive days & nights at major seaports in India, waiting for the nominated heavy cargo to come out of the performing vessel’s deck. It used to be a competitive test for my patience. But the subsequent challenging journey alongwith the haulage team, traversing through hundreds of kilometers, had always been a tiring delight. The whole team had to literally jog in pace with the moving mass of machinery. Whenever the heavy lift specialists team performed a critical maneuvering enroute, I repeatedly managed to ensure myself to be standing near the load, not only to learn the tactics of heavy lift haulage but also to hear that mesmerizing, rejuvenating sound. Each and everyone of the technical crew had to play their part of responsibility in making the heavy load to be on the move. The actions also included lifting of live electric wires with high levels of accuracy to get the heavy load pass through. The support teams had to preplan and arrange necessary permissions from concerned authorities for removal & refixing of overhead signboards, block the traffic on a national highway, delay a train for while at the nearby station, shut down H.T electricity, reinforce the roads wherever needed and at times construct bye-pass to avoid going over a weak bridge, all for allowing the heavy load to reach its designated destination. These set of actions usually done with a very minimal verbal communication, reminded me of seeing a war movie, sequencing the mobilization of military equipments to the frontlines, always with an element of surprise…

The concept of Heavy Lift Project Logistics has been relatively perceived as simple but in contrary is highly complex. In Heavy lift logistics, every single movement is regarded as a project which is unique on its own requirement and it is an every time challenge with a difference. It demands precise pre-planning, highly specialized information, personnel and equipments. It stipulates designing & execution of innovative transport solutions to perform complex tasks, possibly in a remote and volatile terrain.


Whatever the man made objects fabricated on this world, be it a massive reactor, oil field jackets, rig modules, mid section of a ship, each weighing about several hundreds or even thousands of metric tonnes, the project logistics team lifts and shifts them exactly to the place, where it is expected to be, as per the engineering design of the project.

While there could be hundreds of project shipments getting executed around the world by fellow professionals, would like to recall here, the unprecedented events happened, when "Kursk"- sank in the Barents Sea[2000 A.D]. "Kursk", the largest attack submarine ever built, lost herself under the sea due to an unexpected and unauthorized explosion. The disaster response system of the mighty Russian Navy by itself launched a Rescue Mission to save 118 sailors, reportedly manned the submarine. Unfortunately no progress was made available. Within few days of the accident, the mission status was changed. A Salvage Mission was ordered by the high command. The nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, equivalent to a four storied high building, with displacement of about 13,500 to 16,500 tonnes as per her design, slept under the sea at a depth of about 108 metres. She was kept safely guarded by another armed submarine. 

The Russian Navy politely declined to accept any technical assistance offered by other nations and contracted two Dutch based Heavy Lifting, Haulage, Salvage companies (Mammoet and Smit International) to perform the salvage. What happened after that was a carefully monitored and recorded history of military logistics. Equipped with several months of precise planning and preparations in consultations with the Navy, the Heavy Lifting Engineering teams arrived, positioned their equipments at the place of the accident, executed their plans, lifted "Kursk" from the bottom of the sea and handed her over to the Navy. The mission was accomplished = The Art of Heavy Lifting and Haulage.

Note: The Kursk Salvage project is taken just to compliment the heavy lift professionals. The expertise and powers of the Navy are unquestionably supreme and to be respected.

For academic interest - [Project]Logistics was originally a military term used to describe the organization of moving, lodging and supplying troops and equipments. It was clearly somewhat broader in scope than transport, since it covered everything needed to deliver the troops and equipments to the right place, at the right time, and the right condition. Modern business [Project] logistics is based exactly on the same concept, aims at delivery of what the customer / project owner wants – providing the cargo at the right time [Time Utility], at the right place [Place Utility] and in the right quantity [Possession Utility] and ofcourse at the right price [Cost Utility]. To make it complete, the sequential cyclicality of the multi modal transport system is inescapably needed with perfection. Any failure will make even a very well established, strong organization, unwittingly, become embroiled in situations of irreversible commercial and reputation loses. Ofcourse, the element of risk bearing is commonly out of proportion due to the multiplying uncertainties in the present economic scenario. 

B.Mannan
Dubai, UAE