The transportation was carried out with Faris’ Mercedes Arocs trucks fleet.

Al Faris Group, which claims to have the largest fleet of cranes and other heavy equipment in the Middle East, says it has completed the transportion and lifting of 30 overflow tanks for the mega Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project in Dubai.

The execution of the complete logistics chain was a challenging one, according to Al Faris. “This complicated project work was awarded to the group mainly due to its expertise in transporting large, abnormal loads involving high complexity in planning and execution,” says a company spokesman.

“Each tank was 52 m long and weighed 235 tonnes, which made it an extremely big challenge for byroad transportation. And the biggest task was to find a feasible route from Jebel Ali Port to the solar park, Al Qudra in order to transport the cargo efficiently. The transportation was carried out with the group’s Mercedes Arocs trucks fleet attached to two files 30 axle Goldhofer THP/SL conventional hydraulic trailers with two tanks in one convoy,” he adds.

Elaborating on the strategy used, he says: “The loads were first off-loaded and stored on customised stools fabricated in-house by Al Faris at Jebel Ali Port. Due to time limitations at the port and the high-volume storage, the project needed quick response time with professional planning and execution.

“At the project site, the overflow tanks were lifted using our Liebherr 400-tonne crawler crane along with other supporting mobile cranes which travelled a distance of more than 100 m before placing the load on the foundation.”

A project of this nature requires exceptionally detailed planning to orchestrate the complex activities necessary for ensuring uninterrupted safe services; from route analysis to on-road safety permissions, states the spokesman.

“The route was analysed and surveyed by our technical team. The technical support documentation, execution plans, route analysis report and HSE protocols were prepared in-house and discussed with the client prior to project execution,” he reveals.

Approvals from RTA for transportation and road modification works, NOC from port authorities were also all taken care of by Al Faris, he adds.

He points out that significant road modifications, diversions and managing temporary traffic routes were a requirement in order to carry out this project successfully.

“Bypass roads were made temporarily in order to avoid the overhead height restrictions in the transportation route,” the spokesman notes.

“Our team of engineers and technicians carried out the operation smoothly with utmost safety and efficiency with all approvals and precautionary measures in place and the help of police escort vehicles,” he adds.