While the boom of gas-fired power generation ended several years ago, the demand for energy has not. As one of the leading companies providing heavy transportation and rigging for movement of the turbines, generators and boiler modules associated with these projects, Barnhart was called to Tallahassee to complete yet another combined cycle project. Barnhart has safely erected more than 325 gas and steam units over the past 10 years and this two-unit cogeneration facility was added to the list. A unique aspect of this project was the location of the rail siding-right next to the heavy lift crane. With this set up, Barnhart was able to use a 360-ton 718 ring crane to take the modules directly from rail to final position.

Oil and gas refining: Los Angeles Reactor Transport Barnhart was hired to transport a 700-ton reactor from the Port of Los Angeles to an area refinery for installation. The reactor was loaded onto an 18-line doublewide Goldhofer PST self-propelled platform trailer. The 4.5 mile path to the refinery went through the city of Los Angeles, so a specific route had to be developed to avoid the city’s underground utilities. On multiple occasions the route survey required the team to switch from one side of the street to the other to avoid utilities. In addition, Barnhart constructed steel plate bridges which were used in a “leap-frog” fashion to transverse the under-street utility conduits. The transport process required the coordination of over 25 government agencies and utility companies.

After the reactor reached the refinery and was staged in front of the reactor foundation, the Barnhart team began the erection process.

To lift and slide the vessel into position, Barnhart used six legs of the lift system gantry. The reactor was moved into a pre-constructed structure. Barnhart placed strand jacks on top of the structure to lift the vessel into position. When the positioning was complete, four of the gantry legs were reconfigured and utilized as the tailing mechanism during the lift operation. Finally, the strand jacks were engaged and the reactor was lifted to vertical. From that point the reactor was lowered to its final position on the anchor bolts.