This series of photos shows four gigantic coke ovens being transported to the Syncrude plant during the winter of 2001. Each oven is 110 meters long, 10 meters in diameter and weighs 416 tonnes. There were up to 4 tractors pulling and 2 pushing during the 800 km trip which took 10 days. The ovens were fabricated by Dacro Industries in Edmonton and transported by Premay Equipment.

On Feb. 10,'06 I photographed another vessel being moved to Ft. McMurray, this time fabricated by Cessco, weighing just shy of 1,000,000 pounds. Hauled by Mammoet. Pictures and video will be posted shortly. These loads seem to be getting bigger and more frequent!!!!

When they arrive in Ft. McMurray, some of the world's largest crawler cranes capable of lifting more than 1375 tons, are used to hoist the vessels into their vertical working position at the plants.




I just found this link the other day while updating my Ft. McMurray page. I took some photos at the Dacro plant and will
have them available shortly. They are currently building a third coker like this and it will be moved out this winter. Truly
a gigantic load.

This is the largest load ever transported in North America by road...1.7 million pounds

The unit was a gigantic coker oven fabricated by Dacro Industries in Edmonton and transported by Premay Equipment
with a total of seven tractors...3 pulling and four pushing.

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/extreme_heavy_hauling.htm




April 24, 07
The other series of photos shows a gigantic Letourneau front end loader being readied for transport to a coal mine in the Rockies near Hinton. The tires are 10 feet in diameter and the bucket (not shown) is capable of snatching 90 tons in a single bite. It's the largest such loader in the world.


Here's a short video clip of the vessel as they move it through Two Hills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLlHmAXdBLE


Update Jan 26/08: Another vessel is prepared to move out from the Dacro plant this weekend, Jan 27. Blizzard conditions are expected along the route with temps around -35C and winds around 30-50 kmh. Have fun, guys!!