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Heater Module Haul

Problem: Barnhart was hired to help transport three 500,000 lb. heater modules, and the customer's shipping frames and bracing were unable to handle the load.

Solution: Barnhart's engineers developed a solution that redesigned load spreaders and frames and met the delivery schedule.

Three 500,000 lb. heater modules had to be delivered quickly from Catoosa, Oklahoma to a Texas refinery by barge. The engineers from Barnhart's Houston office sprang into action to deliver a complicated roll-on, tie-down, and ballast plan, and the engineering package was completed just in time to meet the delivery schedule. However, at the last minute the customer revealed that the shipping frames and bracing were not intended to handle the barge transport loadings. Again, Barnhart's engineering team wasted no time in developing a solution to this challenge and designed load spreaders and efficient reinforcement for the shipping frame and lashing for the modules.

Each module was rolled on from the stern of the barges using the 18-line, 1.5 wide PSTe Goldhofer, tied down and then delivered successfully to their Texas destination. Barnhart returned two more times for additional modules over the course of the project.