trailer world Issue One 2012

Issue One 2012 11 Title The wind farms are born on land, in warm offices where the desks do not rock and sway. But here it is exciting: a sort of gold rush has captured the planners’ imagination. There are even areas that are over- planned - where several offices in parallel vie for the contract from the Federal Office for Maritime Transport. The process of regulatory approvals is extensive: amongst other things, studies of the seabed must show whether the installation of the systems is possible and environmentally friendly. The individual elements of the wind power systems, such as foun- dations and turbines, are also produced on land, increasingly in the immediate vicinity of the coast. Some parts still have to be bought in, and companies from all over Europe are involved: For “Alpha ventus” for example, steel sheets from Germany were bent into tubes in the Netherlands and welded into the tripod foundations in Norway. The result is 50 metres high and weighs hundreds of tonnes. It was there- fore assembled right on the coast and transport vessels carried the parts to the destination. Road transport plays only a miniscule role in the logistics of “Off- shore” due to the size and weight of the components. It is an excep- tional situation when, for example, a vehicle of the TII group from Baden-Wurttemberg transports a tower segment for an offshore farm over 200 km on public roads – including many detours, to avoid hav- ing to pass under bridges. As a rule, works near the coast are the most common work location, and require only short distances by road. Un- der the brand names of Scheuerle and Kamag, TII builds vehicles that are just as robust as they are manoeuvrable, and can position the com- ponents with an accuracy of millimetres in the warehouse or where they are to be assembled. On the road, the company uses InterCombi chassis, which can be moved by one tractor – either as trailers or semi-trailer combination, to achieve higher speeds. On the works sites module transports are used which can handle up to 16,000 tonnes. The rotor blades, for example, represent a special challenge, and need particularly long vehicles. Scheuerle has developed a blade adapt- er which can raise, lower and swivel the parts. This means that the blade can be moved while driving to negotiate obstacles such The tripod foundation is moved with the aid of three flexible modu- le transporters. »Where else do they make ten centimetre thick weld seams?« Andreas Kölling, BARD Most manufacturing takes place on the coast

trailer world Issue One 2012

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