Since my sub-thread about 'Big Moves' on Meter Rat's post about his Tiger Tank Transporter (viewtopic.php?p=382241#p382241) was getting lengthy, I wanted to open up a space for the group to post anything about Big things being Moved...
Feel free to post stories, photos & videos of anything you think takes a Herculean effort to get from point A to point B
I'll start things off with Mr Rat's own link to a move video... in his words:
"A couple of mates were involved in this move of a 215 ton transformer"
https://youtu.be/ZPR-IptsmFo
Big Moves
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TankDriver
- Lance Corporal
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:15 pm
- Location: Orlando, FL
Big Moves
"If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing"
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TankDriver
- Lance Corporal
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:15 pm
- Location: Orlando, FL
Re: Big Moves
I've been involved in filming a few Big Moves in my former career as a soundman for film & TV, having covered many newsworthy events.
One job required us to cover the progress of a new containment lid for a nuclear reactor being delivered and installed over a 2-week period here in Florida. The lid itself, kinda like a giant pressure cooker lid, weighs 80 tons, and the shipping crate & all the fittings close to 30 or 40 tons, so you're looking at over 100 tons being delivered by the largest jet in the world (Russian Volga) and transported across the state on the largest flatbed in the world, with 16 independently steerable axles, each with 4 automatically inflatable tires. What a job! Nothing small about it... I think I'm still glowing a little, hopefully only from the pride of a job well done & not some more nefarious cause... after all, I worked next to a open reactor near the end of the job!
Russian 'Volga' plane used to transport the lid
Interior of the Volga plane... larger than a C-130
Overview of all three components working together: plane, crane & truck
The rear of the airplane opens up as well as the front
You can see right thru the middle of this giant!
Finally, the lid is being moved into the nuclear reactor
One job required us to cover the progress of a new containment lid for a nuclear reactor being delivered and installed over a 2-week period here in Florida. The lid itself, kinda like a giant pressure cooker lid, weighs 80 tons, and the shipping crate & all the fittings close to 30 or 40 tons, so you're looking at over 100 tons being delivered by the largest jet in the world (Russian Volga) and transported across the state on the largest flatbed in the world, with 16 independently steerable axles, each with 4 automatically inflatable tires. What a job! Nothing small about it... I think I'm still glowing a little, hopefully only from the pride of a job well done & not some more nefarious cause... after all, I worked next to a open reactor near the end of the job!
Russian 'Volga' plane used to transport the lid
Interior of the Volga plane... larger than a C-130
Overview of all three components working together: plane, crane & truck
The rear of the airplane opens up as well as the front
You can see right thru the middle of this giant!
Finally, the lid is being moved into the nuclear reactor
"If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing"
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TankDriver
- Lance Corporal
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:15 pm
- Location: Orlando, FL
Re: Big Moves
Another big job was anything we filmed at Cape Canaveral (an hour's drive from me here in Orlando) during the shuttle launch program... walking alongside the crawler as it crushed rocks under its treads while carrying the space shuttle to the launch pad was something I'll never forget
Here's a few pics of Space Shuttle Discovery's roll-out to the launch pad back in 2005... now known as the 'Return To Space'... the first mission attempted after the Columbia disaster in 2003
Rolling slowly out to the launch pad at 1/4 mile an hour... the journey of only two miles takes all day long
Detail of the crawler, a marvel of modern engineering, weighing 6 million pounds & producing 8000 horsepower
A careful balancing act is required for successful roll-out; that's a high center of gravity!
One of the four giant tractors situated on the four corners, with two sets of treads each
Crushed river rock in the wake of the massive treads... 1 ton per link, 57 links per tread, eight treads per vehicle
Yours truly walking happily alongside the crawler all day, while filming interviews
Here's a few pics of Space Shuttle Discovery's roll-out to the launch pad back in 2005... now known as the 'Return To Space'... the first mission attempted after the Columbia disaster in 2003
Rolling slowly out to the launch pad at 1/4 mile an hour... the journey of only two miles takes all day long
Detail of the crawler, a marvel of modern engineering, weighing 6 million pounds & producing 8000 horsepower
A careful balancing act is required for successful roll-out; that's a high center of gravity!
One of the four giant tractors situated on the four corners, with two sets of treads each
Crushed river rock in the wake of the massive treads... 1 ton per link, 57 links per tread, eight treads per vehicle
Yours truly walking happily alongside the crawler all day, while filming interviews
"If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing"
Re: Big Moves
Hey that must have been an interesting job back in the day. I guess you must look back and think "Did I really get the chance to do that!"
YouTube and great quality consumer photographic equipment like Iphones and Go Pros have changed media work entirely in the 20 years since you walked alongside the shuttle.
YouTube and great quality consumer photographic equipment like Iphones and Go Pros have changed media work entirely in the 20 years since you walked alongside the shuttle.
