Collett Navigates Dublin To Deliver Giant Engines

By Simon West

UK-based heavy haul specialist Collett & Sons has delivered six 158-tonne diesel engines from Dublin Port to the city’s Orion Business Park.

Each engine, measuring 13.4 meters long, 3.4 meters wide and 4.7 meters high, was transported from the port using Collett’s 250-tonne capacity Goldhofer girder bridge trailer, built around each unit to handle the challenging size and weight.

The engines were transported in two phases, three at a time, on the 20-axle trailer. All six engines were identical in weight and dimensions and followed the same route for each delivery.

With Irish police and private escorts supporting the move, the convoys set off at 11pm, navigating a 15-mile route carefully surveyed for pinch points, low clearances and tight turns. In some areas, contraflow maneuvers and rerouting eliminated the need to remove street furniture.

On reaching Orion Business Park, each engine was steered into a transhipment area and transferred onto a 10-axle self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT), capable of 360-degree steering and vertical lift, ensuring safe passage through narrow site access. Final positioning onto prepared plinths was completed with precision jacking equipment.

During the transhipment phase, the girder bridge trailer was dismantled and returned to the port the following day. It was then rebuilt and loaded with the next engine.

“Preliminary works, including detailed route surveys and coordination with the Irish police escorts (Garda), local authorities and stakeholders, ensured the seamless execution of each transport phase,” Collett said.

“Requirements such as street furniture removal or modifications, preparing a site car park for transhipment, preparing the ground to support the load and building a new access gate for the engines to enter the site via SPMT from the transhipment area were identified during route surveys and carried out by the Collett team as part of the preliminary works.”

Watch the Collett team in action:



Collett & Sons is an exhibitor at Breakbulk Europe.