After\ncompletion of the demolition of the Gabarre tower blocks in Pointe-\u00e0-Pitre\nduring the summer of 2021, the giant excavator used in flattening the three\nconcrete buildings left Guadeloupe mid-February 2022 bound for La Rochelle. The\nmachine was shipped on the Marfret Niolon, specially reinforced to carry such a\nheavy consignment. Insight into a daunting task, requiring special expertise\nand engineering prowess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nGabarre tower blocks, built in the 70s and used as a landmark for local\nfishermen, are no more\u2026 As part of an extensive urban regeneration project, the\nthree concrete and steel buildings were demolished in 2021. To carry out the\n\u20ac34.6M demolition project, Avenir D\u00e9construction called on the services of an\nexcavator of gigantic dimensions: a Liebherr 9150R fitted with a 76m-long arm, with\na 28m reach, and weighing 315 tonnes. Shipped out as lolo (lift-on, lift-off)\ncargo from the UK, forwarding agent Safir & Melon, part of L\u00e9on Vincent, opted\nfor a safer, horizontal-load roro option for its return to France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
15-day journey, one year of preparations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Between\nthe first technical studies carried out by Laurence Gloaguen and the vessel\u2019s\nsailing from Pointe-\u00e0-Pitre on 14th<\/sup> February 2022, the entire\noperation took almost a year. The machine was shipped on the Marfret Niolon,\nwhich operates on the MPV service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Guillaume\nVidil and Marfret\u2019s Le Havre branch manager Martial Bienvenu were on hand at\nJarry port to witness the spectacular loading process, expertly carried out by\nthe stevedores of Soguama, a handling company owned by Marfret, under the\nwatchful eye of Bruno Julius, manager of Marfret\u2019s Guadeloupe agency. The\ndelicate operation required input from Marfret staff in London, Guadeloupe, Le\nHavre and Marseille to calculate the optimal way to spread the load and put in\nplace the handling capacities required to ensure the safe transport of all the\nbehemoth\u2019s components once disassembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFour\nsteel plates were specially designed and welded onto the ship\u2019s garage deck to\nevenly spread the load of the excavator body\u2019s 89.5 tonnes on four hydraulic\njacks<\/em>.\nThe body was loaded on board on a 12-axle trailer and then transferred onto a\n100-tonne capacity MAFI roll trailer before being secured on the four jacks. Plywood\nwas placed between the jacks and the steel plates. The tracks, which weighed\n49.5 tonnes apiece, were placed on roll trailers,\u201d<\/em> explains Martial Bienvenu. The\ncomplex operation was carried out with the help of the demolition company,\noperators of the excavator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncounterweights (39T), jib (31T), arm (52T), pulley block, beam and other parts\nsuch as the claw, were loaded onto a 40\u2019 flat container and 62\u2019 roll trailer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nmulti-purpose MPV service, which specializes in roro traffic, has its own\nout-of-gauge handling equipment. The service operates between Le Havre and\nPointe-\u00e0-Pitre (connection hub for the Ferrymar service to Fort-de-France,\nMarigot and Gustavia) via Antwerp and Degrad-des-Cannes, with a rotation time\nof 42 days. \u201cIf the volume of traffic warrants it, our flexibility allows us\nto add a port call,\u201d<\/em> points out Martial Bienvenu, who has replaced Emmanuel\nBohec at Le Havre. After 15 days at sea, the Marfret Niolon docked at La\nRochelle on 1st<\/sup> March to offload its cargo, before resuming normal\noperations\u2026 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After completion of the demolition of the Gabarre tower blocks in Pointe-\u00e0-Pitre during the summer of 2021, the giant excavator used in flattening the three concrete buildings left Guadeloupe mid-February 2022 bound for La Rochelle. The machine was shipped on the Marfret Niolon, specially reinforced to carry such a heavy consignment. Insight into a daunting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":5999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-nl-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n