A transformer weighing 184 tons was recently shunted from the Ipswich Docks to a substation in Burwell, Cambridge. The transport, offload and installation was entrusted to UK’s transport and heavy lift specialist Allelys.

The company received the cargo at Ipswich Docks onto a 12 axle flat top trailer and shunted to a temporary storage area. The transformer, measuring 8.7m (l) x 5.4m (w) x 4.8m (h), was then transported 59 miles to Burwell, Cambridge using an 18 axle, 200 tonne capacity girder frame. The route engineered by the Allelys team, included a temporary closure of the Orwell Bridge to enable the transport to cross without any other vehicles on the bridge at the same time.

Allelys engineering the project cargo route

Working alongside Highways England, Allelys arranged temporary traffic management on the A14 to remove the central reservation barrier and with two lanes closed on each side, the girder frame was able to cross over, travel against the normal flow of traffic and up the slip road, at junction 37, on the wrong side of the carriage way.

The heavy transport then needed to negotiate the intricate road network through the town of Burwell, before delivery to the substation.

Once on site, the transformer was jacked up using synchronised climbing jacks and positioned onto a turntable to be rotated, skidded into the bund and then jacked down into its final position. The in-house engineering team completed route surveys and swept path analysis. They also engineered a lift plan for the crane work on site.