Astounding images of trucks hauling massive rotor blades

[werdnagreb]

It doesn’t always go so well.

Truck carrying massive wind turbine blade topples over on SH45

[Bozobub]

Yes and no. It’s a pain in the butt but is also relatively routine work, when not done to repair damage. The routes are carefully planned, often by both human and AI, to minimize this as much as possible.

[GagHalfrunt]

@jandrese

I remember it was on a giant flatbed with what looked kind of like hundreds of airplane landing gear assemblies underneath in a big grid. Apparently each one was individually controllable, both for turn and in height. Power was provided by a small fleet of semi trucks chained to one side like a giganic stagecoach.

Self propelled modular transporter - SPMT | Mammoet

All you need to know about the Mammoet Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT)

[jerwin]

@jandrese

I once saw a piece of heavy industrial machinery that was being moved across the plains of Canada. They had to move it in the dead of winter because it was too heavy for many of the bridges on the route, so they would have it cross the frozen creek instead. It was also two lanes wide and moved at about 5kph. They had a special rig to push up on power lines to let it squeeze under.

This project matches some of your details.

Mammoet PAL_1.avi

In this case it was a Oil Sands Coker. The environment won’t pollute itself.

[BakaNeko]

It looks like giant cigarettes.

[GoatCheezInfrno]

@jandrese

I once saw a piece of heavy industrial machinery that was being moved across the plains of Canada. They had to move it in the dead of winter because it was too heavy for many of the bridges on the route, so they would have it cross the frozen creek instead. It was also two lanes wide and moved at about 5kph. They had a special rig to push up on power lines to let it squeeze under.

I’d be interested to know just what the logistics are like to move one of those huge tunnel boring machines on the scale of the Gotthard or Lötschberg base tunnels. Those have to be dismantled and reassembled where needed (sometimes from one tunnel bore to the other). Are the pieces too big for ordinary hauling?

[Doctor_Faustus]

I mean, it’s not unlikely that the transport firm commissioned drone footage for their promotional materials. It’s equally possible that an excited local grabbed their Phantom when they saw them come through town. As common as drones are these days I find that part the least surprising.

[Jeroen_Metselaa]

There is of course some false perspective in play here. The propeller looks bigger because it is closer to the camera. A standard drone with a Go-Pro (fair assumption) flown close to the tip would create this effect.

[Hypoxia]

Has Donny Boy demanded closeup and/or wide-angle shots that make his little hands look larger? Or is that off-topic here?

[jandrese]

The one I saw was back in the winter of 1994, so probably not this one, but I’m sure these kinds of heavy industrial machine transports happen a few times each year. There are probably multiple companies that specialize in transporting gigantic equipment.

[FGD135]

@GoatCheezInfrno

Are the pieces too big for ordinary hauling?

Define “ordinary hauling”…

The machines are more or less bespoke solutions for a specific task/project; either variations of a standard type or a new type that maybe has to meet unusual requirements. Being able to get the machine from the factory to the work site is always one of the design parameters.
Components that can be transported by train/lorry is the norm. The “last mile” to most project sites is usually either a place in the middle of nowhere without any infrastructure, or somewhere crowded with too much existing infrastructure to use really large rigs.

Products - Herrenknecht AG

Herrenknecht AG