Engineered Rigging Delivers Locomotives

TIBA Group was managing the delivery of three locomotives scheduled to arrive at Chile’s Terminal Cerros de Valparaíso (TCVAL) recently. Knowing that they had to unload the three engines as quickly as possible to control costly port fees, TIBA Group contacted Engineered Rigging (ER) to develop a lift plan that would safely expedite the process.

• ER removed the three train engines from the ship, transported them 1km to the port’s railway system, and lifted them onto railroad tracks.

The train engines were massive, each one weighing 150 tons and measuring 21 meters long and 4.5 meters high. The team of engineers quickly went to work, assessing the load, ship dimensions and port guidelines, and conducting several engineering studies. The winning plan determined that the locomotives would be removed sequentially using two of Engineered Rigging’s self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs).

With 12 axles and pivoting wheel assemblies, the SPMTs can move forward, backward and sideways.

With 12 axles and pivoting wheel assemblies, the SPMTs can move forward, backward and sideways. Their agility made them an ideal choice to navigate the locomotives through the busy port to the railroad tracks. Upon arriving at the tracks, an Engineered Rigging Super Boom Lift (SBL500) gantry and SSU300 powered slide shift would be used to lift the locomotives from the SPMT and place them onto the track.

On November 23, the cargo arrived as planned on the M/N Maryland, and the ER South America team had technical personnel on site to set up the gantry system and power side shift adjacent to the railroad track. They also positioned the SPMTs next to the cargo vessel. On November 24, the ER crew of nine put the plan into action.

A Super Boom Lift (SBL500) gantry and SSU300 powered slide shift was used to lift the locomotives from the SPMT and place them onto the track.

Once the first locomotive was placed onto the nimble SPMT, a technician navigated the trailer through the port to the gantry. The technicians secured the load and expertly lifted the 150-ton locomotive off of the SPMT using the gantry equipped with the powered side shift. Next, the technical team used the powered side shift to move the locomotive above the railroad tracks.

Using the gantry system, the team lowered the locomotive onto the tracks and repeated the maneuver two times. The three locomotives were unloaded and transported to the tracks in just nine hours.

“By combining innovative engineering with our in-house fleet of heavy lifting rental equipment, Engineered Rigging completed the locomotive project at TCVAL in a fast, safe and efficient manner,” shared Arnol Salicetti, Engineered Rigging’s project manager in Chile.

For this project, Engineered Rigging provided engineering studies, a lift plan, technical support, heavy lifting operators and the heavy lifting equipment rentals for the project.

• Since opening its Chile location in 2021, Engineered Rigging has completed a number of heavy lifting projects in the country including the dismantling of a large scale construction crane inside a tunnel at the Alto Maipo hydropower plant. The company provides equipment rental and engineering services throughout South America.