Almajdouie Heavy Lift Transport and Engineering (MHL), a member of Project Professionals Group (PPG), has successfully transported the world’s largest bullet tanks. Six (6) Bullet Tanks were delivered safely to the destination site with two others still in transit. Almajdouie is a group of experts in different fields like Logistics, Automotive, Manufacturing as well as Real Estate & Investments. Within the logistics divisions, it has 14 companies and two of these specialise in transportation and installation of super heavy and oversize loads/cargoes. MHL, the first ISO-9001:2008 certified Heavy Lift Company with head office in Dammam and Almajdouie PSC Heavy Lift (MPSC), a joint venture company between Almajdouie Group of Saudi Arabia and Fagioli Group of Italy, with head office in Bahrain.

The Group maintains its leadership in project logistics and project handling, providing ongoing satisfaction to its customers, suppliers and employees alike. MHL secured a record breaking contract for the transportation of the “World’s Largest Bullet Tanks”. In total, Almajdouie will move Eight (8) Bullet Tanks, which in totality will break its own records. These Bullet Tanks were fabricated locally: 5 units by Zamil in Dammam and 3 units by Bilfal in Jubail. Almajdouie moved these huge Bullet Tanks from Ex-Work Yard to SATORP Site in Jubail. The scope of work includes jack-up, loading and transportation from Ex-Work to SATORP Project Site over a journey of 130 kilometers.

SATORP is building a refinery to produce gasoline, low-sulfur diesel and naphtha in Jubail Industrial City 2, Saudi Arabia. The plants will process heavy crude to produce 700,000 t/y of Para xylene, 140,000 t/y of Benzene and 200,000 t/y of Polymer Grade Propylene. The project is divided into 15 packages which include construction of Distillation and Hydro Treating Facilities, Conversion Unit, Sulphur and Amine Saltwater Treatment Unit, Aromatics Plant and Coker Unit. The output will supply the demands for transportation fuels and petrochemicals in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Almajdouie has been awarded most of the packages for onshore project logistics business from various EPC contractors and local fabricators. In these packages were various loads that include the world’s largest Bullet Tanks. The tank dimensions are 84.0m x 8.4m x 12.0m, with each weighing around 1,112 tons, which is very important for the project.

MHL's foremost concern to move these huge Bullet Tanks was to find the appropriate route. The Kingdom has given priorities to build better infrastructures which link the cities and make movements easy, but searching for routes with less obstacles was not an easy task and had to be considered properly. Likewise, getting timely permission from the concerned authorities was also very important. Therefore, MHL's Project Managers, Operations Team and Government Relations Officers GROs had to precisely plan and obtained the required permits ahead of time.

MHL used its sophisticated and modern equipment like the Self-Propelled Modular Trailers (SPMTs) and the Hydraulic Conventional Axle Lines to move these massive Bullet Tanks.

A Self-Propelled Modular Transporter or SPMT is a platform vehicle with a large array of wheels on the bottom. SPMTs are used for transporting massive objects that are too big or heavy for trucks, but trucks can provide traction and braking for the SPMTs on inclines and descents. These vehicles can also be called as Self-Propelled Modular Trailer.

A typical SPMT can have a grid of several dozen computer-controlled wheels, all individually controllable and steerable in order to evenly distribute the weight and steer accurately. Each individual wheel can swivel independently from other wheels that allow the SPMT to turn, move sideways, or even spin in place. Some SPMTs allow each wheel to telescope independently with each other so that the load can be kept flat and evenly distributed while moving over uneven terrain. As SPMTs often carry the world's heaviest loads on wheeled vehicles, they are very slow vehicles, often moving at under one mile per hour while fully loaded. Some SPMTs are being controlled with a handheld control panel, while other SPMTs have a driver cabin. In addition, multiple SPMTs can be combined to transport massive building-sized objects.

It was set in 16x2, 16x2 axle open compound configurations and side-by-side Dolly operations for conventional modules. The load moves at a speed of safest way depending on the route, but the road crossing and moving against the traffic are really very critical.

Considering the traffic and the massive size, the planners decided to move the cargo during the night time, but it was not that easy because of extreme aridity and heat during the summer season in Saudi Arabia which is one of the few countries in the world where the temperature during the summer season reaches to 45 to 50 Degrees Centigrade. Weather conditions at night, especially in the desert region, are famous for being chilly even during the summer as the vast amount of sand gives up its daytime heat very quickly the moment the sun sets.  But MHL's crew members are well-experienced and trained to face such challenges.

Almajdouie has a crew of specially-trained operators for SPMT operations & Conventional Modules, who have vast experience of moving huge loads in different locations over a 30-year period.

Planning:

Planning is very vital and essential for without proper planning in project logistics, the task cannot be achieved in its required timeframe. The first step is to understand and analyze the project scope to build an effective solution. The critical step is the process of establishing the planning phase and following them thoroughly.

Many agencies are involved to support such massive moves, like the Royal Commission, Saudi Electric Company, Traffic Police and the Ministry of Communication & Transportation. The Ministry of Communication and Transportation has a vital role in the initial study and working with Almajdouie to find the best solutions to move by road. This involved very special permissions to carry out the work in the above list, and in general, to encroach in residential areas with a cargo of this size. It is very essential to obtain written permission from the Saudi Electric Company, Traffic Police and the Ministry of Communication and Transportation.

At the same time, the support of local police and security greatly lend a hand with regard to the safe crossing of the cargo through the intersection of highways, and in general, providing safety and security where needed. Almajdouie also utilized several subcontractors to work in the preparation of the route and handle the street fixtures stated above.

Hurdles & Obstacles:

What were the barriers faced in moving such cargo? Route surveys, compactions, tree removals, backfilling, culvert support, street lamp post and traffic signals, to name a few.

Since, it was such a massive operation, Almajdouie gathered a dedicated team consisting of Civil Engineers, Project Facility Maintenance and Government Relation Officers in line with Operations Experts, to deal with external parties for obstacle removals and cutting of traffic flow to find the route which helped moving the massive load safely and in a timely manner.

In many areas, route modifications were required including destruction & installation of road barriers. Obtaining permission for this involved around 3 months of engineering works, including studies and detailed simulations. This was presented to the Ministry of Communication, who supplied all required permissions. Key facts about the route modifications are:

Removal and re-installation of 17x6 light posts, 1x6 signal lights and 3x6 signboards; trimmed around 15 trees. In addition, Almajdouie utilized steel plates & plywood in bulk quantity as protection for smooth run and replacements within strict time windows dictated by the security police.

On average, delivery took 15 days to travel the 130 km to final destination. With our proper planning and enthusiastic team, Almajdouie safely transported the 6 initial Bullet Tanks and the remaining quantity are making their way towards the site in Jubail.

PPG congratulates all those who were involved in this crucial task, internal & external hands of all parties, who have extended tremendous support on every move.