South African heavy-load logistics provider Vanguard is transporting over 230 wind turbine blades, each around 83 metres in length, a distance of 500km from the port of Ngqura (near Port Elizabeth) to their respective operation sites. In total there are 78 wind turbine facilities and the turbine blades are amongst the longest currently in use for onshore wind turbines.
To transport the blades Vanguard is using six rotor blade transport systems (RBTS) purchased from Tii Scheuerle. When loaded, the combined vehicle length is 95 metres long.
Before commencing the job Vanguard needed to conduct load testing and test drives. “The tests have shown that the RBTS is even better than we expected,” says Bryan Hodgkinson, director of Vanguard. ““The Scheuerle RBTS has fully met our requirements.”
The Scheuerle RBTS comprises a two-axle jeep dolly together with a free-turning device and a four-axle trailing unit. It is also possible to mount the free-turning device directly on the truck tractor. The lift of up to two metres in the free-turning device is also large enough to accommodate obstacles such as surface unevenness and bumps in the road.
The job will take Vanguard around one year to complete.
