BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) entrusted Mammoet with the relocation of a 3,100-tonne Marion 8050 dragline from one end of the Peak Downs coal mine in Queensland, Australia, to another – a full 27 kilometres away.
With a deadline to achieve the relocation, it was suboptimal to allow the dragline to travel under its own steam. As such, the dragline was carried by Mammoet Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs), which can travel up to 5 km/hour.
Eight JS500 towers were set up underneath the dragline for the jacking operation. Once it was elevated to 2.5 metres, a configuration of 5×28 lines of SPMT was positioned underneath the load to transport it.
“In the past, dragline jacking in Australia has been performed using climbing jacks, which require manual handling of timber stacks to gradually lift the load,” explained Jack Whittaker, project manager at Mammoet.
“The JS500 system requires fewer jacking towers and uses cassettes, which are inserted at its base. This saved a lot of time, resulted in less equipment and removed the need for manual handling.”
While there were some nuances, the dragline was safely and efficiently lifted. Its weight was evenly distributed across 560 tires, resulting in a ground bearing pressure of less than 9 t/m². Typically requiring over a month to transport, Mammoet set a new benchmark for dragline transportation by relocating the unit in just 10 days, achieving 8 km/day and significantly minimizing downtime for the Marion 8050.
Using SPMTs not only de-risked the project and got the dragline to the site safely, on time and without incident, but it also reduced wear and tear on the machine and its mechanical parts.
Source: Mammoet