Nothing is too heavy for Abnormal Load Engineering (ALE) – moving a gas turbine or a transformer for a nuclear power station is all in a days work. Established in 1983 to provide an engineering service to manufacturers of electrical plant and utility companies involved in the movement and installation of large items of generating plant, ALE has since developed into a major international heavy transport and installation contractor with an extensive fleet of modern heavy cranes, specialist transport and installation equipment. Headquarted in the UK, the company has offices throughout the world including South Africa. In Durban ALE Heavylift SA recently jacked up, transported and jacked down the first of seven tugs in the Port of Durban. The 825 Te tug was transported from the manufacturer’s warehouse onto a submersible dock. Another recent success involved the loading, transporting and offloading of an ASD 3211 tug at the Cape Town harbour. The 32.5m long, 11.2m wide and 16.2m high tug, weighing around 460 tons, was moved without incident or lost time. Other projects in which ALE Heavylift SA has been involved include the handling and transportation of four 200Te transformers for the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.
