Conti Industrial Tyres Face Ultimate Load Test

Suitability for high load applications is a favoured quality for industrial tyres, and Continental Industrial Tyres is now in a strong position to brag about the load capability of its IC 40 Extra Deep pneumatic crossply range. The Conti tyre plus corresponding Continental-supplied wheel units were called into service to aid Kamag and Scheuerle Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) move a load weighing more than 15,000 tonnes. This impressive piece of haulage work took place at Norway’s largest shipyard, Aker Stord, and involved the transportation of an oil separation plant. The plant was built in three sections, the middle of these sections alone weighing 12,750 tonnes, and its movement from the production site to a pontoon required an accuracy level of just two millimetres.

Continental supplied a customised tyre based upon its IC 40 in size 355/65-15 for the project. The transportation work was carried out by Belgian heavy haulage company Sarens. 356 axle line modular transporters and 16 KAMAG Power Pack Units were still not enough to transport the enormous load. Only with 184 additional Scheuerle axle line SPMTs and six PowerPack Units, hired from the heavy load transport company Mammoet for this transport job, could this ambitious job be successfully carried out.

The Kamag and Scheuerle Self-Propelled Modular Transporters were electronically interlinked and driven underneath the 85.3 metre wide and 67.5 metre long load via remote control. Using all the power available the load was then lifted to transport height, again via remote control. A total of 9,400 horsepower was called upon to propel the heavy cargo out of the shipyard, and Continental reports that the actual moment the load started to move was “breathtaking for all involved”. All 2,160 wheels turned 90 degrees synchronously and the load began the first 40 metre leg of its journey, before stopping and turning the wheels again. After a further 120 metres the objective was finally reached. Continental states that during the procedure each wheel successfully operated with a load bearing capability of ten tonnes per wheel.