Good As Gold

Contracting company Perkins all the advantages of the typical hydraulic modular trailer.

Trailers can be configured up to 14 axle lines in drawbar and up to 10 to 12 axle lines in gooseneck configurations. In addition, two 10 to 12 axle line trailers can be equipped with turntables for moving long loads. The hydraulic trailer suspension offers a stroke of plus or minus 350 millimeters to allow for adapting to uneven road situations and for self loading and discharging. The all wheel hydro-echanical steering allows for maximum maneuverability, both when moving forward and when backing up.

The special feature of the dual lane concept is its capability to mechanically increase trailer width from 16 to 18 to 20 feet. Track width increases accordingly and, in combination with the required axle spacing and the special axle configurations, the DL concept fiers increased axle loads on most US public roads. Th is makes the THP/DL an ideal tool for the Super Load segment.

Northfield, MN has taken delivery of the first 20 axle lines of the new Goldhofer THP/DL. Th is type of trailer, based on the successful THP trailer range, is claimed to be the first fully modular hydraulic platform trailer system specifically designed for dual lane (DL) long distance highway transportation on North American highways, according to Neil Perkins, president.

The new dual lane trailer system combines the advantage of the old beam and dolly systems to spread the load wide over bridges (a feature loved by the permitting

The THP/DL design is fully based on the US market requirements and road regulations. It is easy to mobilize and demobilize. The trailer modules have either 2- or 2 by 2-axle lines, with the required spacing between the axle groups. The modules can be assembled

Maiden trip

After arrival of the first set of 10 axle lines, the Perkins crew prepared the THP/DL at the Port of Houston, TX for its maiden trip. A new fractionater tower fabricated in Cypress, TX had to be moved to a refinery in southeastern Kansas. The almost 119 feet long load, measuring 13 feet in diameter, weighed 225,000 pounds.

Perkins chose to configure the newly arrived Goldhofer straight into a 10 axle line DL trailer in drawbar configuration. Th is trailer set-up would be ideal for the haul.

A considerable backlog in super heavy load permit requests with the Texas DOT caused a significant delay in the execution of the job. Once the permit was in hand, Perkins’ crew made short work of the circuitous 1,250 mile haul route into southeast a Kansas by way of the Oklahom panhandle, as designated by the respective states, in just six days.

In order to deliver the fractionater in the correct orientation for in the correct orientation for offloading, dressing and erection, the tower had to be backed in to the final location about 1,000 feet into the refinery. Th is included a 90-degree turn under a low pipe rack with inches to spare on either side of the columns.

It continued down another plant road before pulling forward through, again, a 90-degree turn to the designated offloading site. This would have been a difficult operation when using conventional transport means, such as dolly and beam transporters, but the Goldhofer dual lane trailer made the job look easy and safe.