The shipping specialist, Tiba Group, was managing the delivery of three locomotives scheduled to arrive at Chile’s Terminal Cerros de Valparaíso (TCVAL) in November 2021. Knowing that they had to unload the three engines as quickly as possible, Tiba Group contacted Engineered Rigging (ER) and its South American partner Tecnogruas, to develop a lift plan that would safely expedite the removal of the three train engines from the ship, transport them 1 kilometer to the port’s railway system and lift them onto the railroad tracks.
The train engines were massive, each one weighing 150 tons and measuring 21 meters long and 4.5 meters high. After conducting several engineering studies the winning plan identified the use of an Enerpac Super Boom Lift SBL500 gantry, an Enerpac SSU300 powered slide shift, and two Goldhofer PST/SL-E6 self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs). With 12 axles and pivoting wheel assemblies, the SPMTs can move forward, backward and sideways. The locomotives would be removed sequentially.
On November 23, the cargo arrived as planned on the M/N Maryland, Engineered Rigging and Tecnogruas had technical personnel on site to set up the gantry system and a power side shift adjacent to the railroad track. They also positioned the SPMTs next to the cargo vessel.
On November 24, a crew of nine put the plan into action. Once the first locomotive was placed onto the nimble SPMT, a technician navigated the trailer through the port to the gantry. The team of technicians secured the load and expertly lifted the 150-ton locomotive off of the SPMT using the gantry equipped with the powered side shift. The technicians then used the powered side shift to move the locomotive above the railroad tracks. The gantry system then lowered the locomotive onto the tracks The team repeated the maneuver two times. The three locomotives were unloaded and transported to the tracks in just nine hours.
