Ale has completed the year-long transportation and installation project for Petrofac in Oman.
It is the first project Ale Oman has won, executed and delivered since opening a permanent base in Muscat in 2015.
The firm was contracted by Petrofac to transport 268 Heavylift (HL)/ Out of Gauge (OOG) units and install 184 HL / OOG units for ORPIC’s Sohar Refinery Improvement Project located in the Sohar Industrial Area, 230 km north west of Muscat.
The weights of the units varied depending on the components, from 96.5t to 920t.
Depending on the piece, Ale utilised 64 axle lines of SPMTs and 48 axle lines of conventional trailers to transport the pieces 2-4km from port to site laydown area / foundation.
Once in their final positions, ALE used multi-crane lifts to install the components, deploying 1,600t, 750t, 600t, 180t, 100t and 60t cranes, in order to lift each piece. ALE needed to move the cranes using SPMTs from one location to the next
Shafic Tilllawi, project manager, said: “Right from the start, this project was challenging as we had to deliver and install the components within a tight delivery schedule.
“It was also logistically complex, performing the crane moves on a congested site and careful coordination with the local tenants and authority, the Royal Oman Police, was required in order to shut down the electricity in the overhead cables and cross a water intake culvert with a low ground bearing pressure.
“The teams involved worked together to ensure that all units were delivered and installed safely and on schedule to our client’s high quality standards.”
It took almost one year to complete the transportation scope and seven months to complete the installation.
