Huge Transporter To Carry Beams
fA’eir Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 20. New Zealand’s largest beam transporter has been built especially for carrying prestressed concrete beams up to 60 tons and 135 ft long for the Thorndon overbridge and motorway in Wellington.
Hydraulic steering will be fitted to the rear unit so that an operator can assist the driver of the front prime mover which is a 276 brake-horse-power diesel unit formerly used as an earth scraper. A steel spine running from front to back is 42ft above the roadway. The rear-wheel unit can be moved along the spine to suit the size of the load.
More than three months’ work at Feilding and Wellington produced the transporter worth an estimated £12,000, for the bridge contractors, Wilkins and Davies Taylor Woodrow. The first test of the transporter will be made after Christmas when “small" pre, stressed beams 90ft long and
weighing 30 tons will be slid under the clamps for a sedate ride from Kaiwharawhara to the waiting mushroom pylons of the motorway. Larger beams will be carried when the two-man transporter teams develop skill and confidence.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31248, 21 December 1966, Page 3
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187Huge Transporter To Carry Beams Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31248, 21 December 1966, Page 3
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