trailer world issue One 2010

Issue One 2010 13 Photo:Capelle journey by water ends here. And so the low- loader trucks with the components leave the barge in Langon and set off on the last leg of the journey by road. The railway line from here to Toulouse was out of the question because of the di- mensions of the loads. Even the idea of us- ing the nearby motorway had to be rejected because too many bridges would have been in the way and anyway, normal traffic would have been unduly hindered. The solution was to use a series of less frequented country roads running parallel to the motorway. In only two years, between 2002 and 2004, the carriageways were widened from their previous dimension of only 6 metres, curves were straightened and bridges reinforced, while power and telephone cables went un- derground. 6,500 new trees were planted to replace the 1,500 trees that had to be felled along the route. At some points, even indi- vidual houses had to be demolished when they stood in the way of the straightening work. But all in all, only half a dozen houses were affected, and their residents were reset- tled. The Airbus Group provided generous compensation for those who were affected, and also made further financial contribu- tions of many different kinds to the local communities en route, quickly appeasing the initial protests against this unusual airplane component transport route, which oppo- nents had dubbed the “A380 motorway”. The upgrading and improvement work to this stretch of road cost 171 million Euro, with 43 percent paid by the French govern- ment and 57 percent by the Airbus Group. The same ratio was also taken to fund con- struction of the Ro-Ro terminals in Pouillac and Langon: after all, the transports were Components for the Airbus A380 from all over Europe are so huge that they are brought to the as- sembly line in Toulouse by multimodal transport solutions, by sea, by river and finally by road. pecial routes for the giant of the skies A straightened country road for the huge airplane parts Reportage

trailer world issue One 2010

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