SPRING 2010

new heights
THE ALE NEWSLETTER • ISSUE 1

Hello, and welcome...

... to the first edition of our biannual newsletter, New
Heights. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep you
abreast of the latest developments and news from ALE
regions across the world. Whether you are a customer or
member of staff, I hope you find it an interesting read.

This inaugural edition comes just after the launch

of our new corporate branding – which we will
expand on further in this issue. The new brand
includes the words and values of Smarter, Safer
and Stronger in our strap line. These words were
chosen very deliberately; it’s what ALE stands for,
and must continue to stand for, to remain at the
cutting edge of our industry.

The launch of our new brand marks an exciting

turning point in ALE’s company history; it
consolidates our businesses, gives us a single,
clear identity and cements our position as a
global leader in our field.

Thank you for taking time to read our newsletter –

I hope you enjoy it.

 ark Harries,
M
Executive Director

IN THIS ISSUE
News in Brief

Branch Focus

Case Studies

Personnel Focus

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new heights
ALE’s new global identity!
The speed at which ALE has grown and
the number of businesses which have
become part of ALE have created the
need for one, global brand identity; a
brand which clearly represents what we
stand for, underlines our strengths and
unites all our regions and businesses
under one cohesive identity.
In January this year, and after many
weeks of consultation, we launched
our new brand to the industry. The
most obvious change is the new logo
and the strap line Smarter, Safer,
Stronger, which represents ALE’s core
values and strengths.
W ORLDW I D E HEAV Y T RA NS P O RTATI O N A ND L I F TING
Behind the new logo and strap line we
have developed a range of marketing
and sales tools, providing comprehensive
information on ALE’s range of services
and offering our customers an
unparalleled resource. Our new website
at www.ale-heavylift.com acts as a
central information point; not only does
it provide details of all ALE capabilities by
service and by sector, but it also contains
case studies of our most recent projects,
the latest news and developments across
all ALE regions, details of our HSQE policy
and free downloadable literature.
So how will this help you? As with all our
strategic endeavours, the purpose is to
ALE has experienced rapid
growth since the company
was founded in 1983. We
are now a multi-million euro
business and one of the
world’s major international
heavy transport and
installation contractors.
provide customers with a better service.
Everything we’ve done is intended to help
us be more proactive, more cohesive as
a company, better able to offer useful
resources and collateral, and be more
accessible for consultative work.
The launch of our new brand marks
the start of an exciting new chapter
for ALE. Our business is constantly
evolving and we must adapt and change
with it, ensuring we continue to grow
and succeed. It is also important to
remember that at heart we still have
the same passion for engineering
solutions that prompted our formation
nearly 30 years ago.
 news in brief SP RING 2010 • is s ue 01

Company News

ALE wins 2009 TopLift Title

from International Cranes
Magazine
We are delighted to announce that
International Cranes & Specialized Transport
readers have voted ALE winner of the
magazine’s 2009 lifting job of the year award.

ALE was voted a clear winner of the title,

which was awarded for the AL.SK190’s
maiden lift of a 69 metre long de-propaniser
column at a petrochemical plant in Saudi
Arabia. The magazine, which announced the
win in its December 2009 issue, praised ALE
for our lifting work carried out at 84 metre
radius, which allowed engineers to complete
foundations and pipe racks in advance of the
column installation.

ALE is the first heavy
lifting and transport
company to receive
‘Environmental’
accreditation
ALE’s commitment to meeting the
highest health, safety, quality and
environment (HSQE) standards has
been reinforced with the awarding of
Environmental accreditation at our
Hixon and Middlesbrough depots in the
UK. As a result of October’s external
BSi Quality and Environmental Audits,
both our Hixon and Middlesbrough sites
were awarded ISO9001:2008 and
ISO14001:2004 accreditation. At Hixon
we have been ISO9001:2000 accredited
since 1994 and ISO14001:2004
accredited since 2008, and the addition
of the Middlesbrough site cements our
dedication to helping our customers meet
their carbon reduction commitments.
John Gibson Projects
become ALE – Offshore
Services
With the launch of our new corporate
brand, weighing and ballasting
specialists John Gibson Projects,
acquired by ALE in 2007, will now be
called ALE – Offshore Services.
Customers can be assured that
there will be no change to staff, and
the division will continue to offer
the same expert service and project
management skills under the
banner of ALE – Offshore Services.
ALE constructing new
office and expanding fleet
in the Middle East
Work on new premises in Mussafah,
Abu Dhabi commenced in February
and is scheduled to finish at the end of
2010. Further equipment will also be
added to our existing fleet in the Middle
East, including additional conventional
trailer axles, Self-Propelled Modular
Transporters (SPMTs) and a purpose-
built class 300 barge. The new facility
and equipment will enhance our leading
position in the Middle East and will
complement our planned acquisitions
for the region.

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new heights news in brief

Equipment News

ALE unveils new AL.SK190 and AL.SK350

designation for ultra heavy lift crane fleet
As part of our global rebranding, ALE’s largest cranes, the AL.SK90 and
the forthcoming AL.SK120, have been renamed as the AL.SK190 and
AL.SK350, confirming the AL.SK fleet as the world’s largest land-based
cranes. The new names reflect the measurement of the load moment
based around the point of rotation – the industry standard convention for
measuring the lifting radius of cranes.
The designations also remove all doubt that ALE has the most powerful
lifting capabilities in the industry. When the forthcoming AL.SK350 is
revealed, its lifting capacity will be more than double the load moment of
its closest rival.
“As part of a wider rebranding process, we’ve decided to bring the names
in line with the recognised industry measurements, making it easier for
clients to compare crane capabilities on a universal scale,” explains Mark
Harries. “The new designations make it clear that there is no bigger crane
than the AL.SK350 for lifting the world’s heaviest structures – no other
crane even comes close.”

ALE builds innovative new 650te skid shoe for horizontal movement of heavy loads

The heavy duty skid shoe system

is a compact, versatile piece of
equipment that, can be used for load-
out and load-in of offshore modules,
as well as the installation of bridge
decks, container cranes and other
heavy weight loads. Created by ALE’s
design team based in Breda, the
Netherlands, this new skid system will
set industry standards for the precise
and safe horizontal movement of
heavy loads.

Our Breda team invented the first skid shoes
on the market, and skidding systems have
since established themselves as one of the
most economic solutions for heavy and ultra
heavy load handling. ALE already operates
150te, 300te, 500te, 1,000te and 1,200te
hydraulic skid shoes and has expanded its
fleet with 60 new skid shoes for a number
of jobs in 2010. This major new investment
brings ALE’s hydraulic skidding capacity
to over 70,000te and our total skidding
capacity to over 150,000te.
The new skid shoe combines proven
techniques with the latest construction
methods, components and operating
systems. The structural integrity of the
skid shoe is secured by a new strong box
construction in the top of the skid shoe
housing to guarantee strength and stability.
The top of the skid shoe housing has a
strong flat surface on each side of the swivel
to support the load without hydraulics,
useful for when a load requires supports
without hydraulics for long term storage.
The skid shoes are hydraulically driven by
83te capacity push/pull units to slide over
a Teflon block in the skid track. The load
on the skid shoes is supported by hydraulic
cylinders with a 620mm stroke, ideal for
load-out operations. The cylinders from each
of the skid shoes are hydraulically connected
to create a three or four point suspension
system, which allows for the load to be
supported in a controlled manner without
overstressing.
Lloyd’s Register, a third party inspector, is
controlling the fabrication of the system.

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 SP RING 2010 • Is s ue 0 1

Investment in new crane and SPMT axles

increases ALE’s capabilities even further
ALE has added a new crane to its fleet. The Terex Demag CC8800-1
has been purchased to bridge the gap between the lifting capacity of
the MK1500 and the AL.SK190, leaving the AL.SK190 available for its
largest projects.
ALE has invested a considerable €11 million into the crane, which has
a maximum load moment of 24002 mt and superlift radii of 19-30
metres. The CC8800-1 has been delivered to Portugal where it will
undertake its 1,500te inaugural lift in March.
In further expansion news, the company has also invested €11 million in
purchasing an additional 150 lines of Self-Propelled Modular Transporters,
taking its SPMT fleet to more than 1,000 axles and providing even greater
transportation capabilities for its clients worldwide.

ALE upgrades AK912 crane

As part of ALE’s investment in its crane
fleet, the AK912 has been upgraded to
meet demand for this 1,200te capacity
heavy lifting equipment. Renamed the
AK912-1 and ready for immediate
deployment, changes include a new SLI
System with new load cells, a hydraulic
boom pining system fitted with hydraulic
rams for the push-pull system and new
hoist and derricking ropes. As part of
this upgrade process and in line with
ALE’s stringent HSQE standards, the
re-fitted crane has been fully certified by
independent third party overload tests.

www.ale- H E AVYlift.c om
new heights news in brief

Project News

ALE transports heavy

loads for the largest
Gas-to-Liquid (GTL)
project in the world
Between February 2008 and January
2010, ALE transported more than 1,000
loads, the largest weighing over 1,200te,
for the Pearl GTL project in Qatar. The
ALE 250 project barge was used for the
largest lifts, in addition to 48 axles of
SPMT, 64 axles of conventional trailers
and five prime movers.

ALE completes
Argentinean bridge
project
ALE successfully completed the last
launching for a 526 metre concrete
bridge which spans the Colastiné River
in Argentina. The bridge is supported
by nine piles of reinforced concrete,
and the operation was comprised of
30 launchings. ALE used a pulling
system composed of two 500te capacity
hydraulic units.

ALE completes first stage

of locking gate installation
at Antwerp port
Two 1,170te horizontal locking gates
for the Van Cauwelaertsluis sea lock in
Antwerp have been installed successfully.
ALE used 48 axles of SPMT with 3 PPUs,
four 500te strand jacks and three barges
to transport the gates from Ghent to
Antwerp, and then two 5te winches and
two 3te winches to position them. The
project marked the first time that the
branch in the Netherlands had tailed a
load between two barges. Installation of
the remaining two gates will commence
in April 2010.

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SP RING 2010 • Is s ue 0 1

ALE transports
fractionator and stripper
up 10% slopes in
Portugal
In just four hours ALE transported
one 148te stripper and one 420.5te
fractionator from Sines Harbour nine
kilometres to Sines Refinery, overcoming
slopes of 10% going through a quarry.
The stripper was transported using four
18 axle SPMTs, and the fractionator was
transported using four 28 axle SPMTs.

ALE completes Thai port

load-out
ALE performed the load-out of two
modules – one weighing 1,205te and
one weighing 987te – at Laem Chabang
Port in Thailand. The modules were
transported a distance of 500 metres
using 78 axle lines of SPMTs. ALE was
also responsible for other aspects of the
project, including all of the engineering
calculations, mooring and ballasting.

ALE contracted for DOW

Mega Project in Thailand
ALE has been contracted to move a total
of 30 columns and vessels for the DOW
MEGA project in Map Ta Phut, Thailand.
The columns and vessels, which have
a maximum length of 80 metres and a
maximum weight of 550te, are being
transported a distance of five kilometres
using up to 80 axles of Self-Propelled
Transporter (SPT) equipment. ALE was
also responsible for arranging cable lifting
modifications to the route.

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new heights branch focus

In each issue, New Heights will take an in-depth look at a different ALE location, its service offering and its
recent projects. For this first edition, we visit South Africa.

ALE South Africa

ALE has been operating in South Africa since 2001. The 22-person office services the whole
of Southern Africa and has recently moved to a larger site near Cape Town to accommodate
the growing amount of equipment and increasing number of personnel. We worked closely
with the construction company to design the new site to ensure the layout allowed us to
work efficiently and to reduce the cost of mobilisation and demobilisation. ALE also has an
equipment yard in Johannesburg.

Sectors: Equipment on site: Working in South Africa:

Power generation, shipbuilding,
civil, nuclear, offshore, mining and
petrochemical
Services:
Jacking, skidding, heavy lifting,
engineering, road and site transport,
route surveying and clearance,
warehousing and feasibility studies
800te capacity 4 point lift system,
3,100te capacity self-climbing jacking
system, 800te capacity skidding
system, 400te strand jack gantry
system, 70 axles – conventional or
SPT, two extendable trailers, five
8x8 FAUNS, two 8x4 Mercedes, one
6x6 Mercedes crane truck, one 8x4
Mercedes crane truck, one 8x4 DAF
and one 6x4 DAF
ALE has become a preferred supplier in
many sectors in the region. The market
in South Africa is largely state-owned, so
we work closely with key players such as
suppliers of plant equipment, engineering
companies and freight forwarders who
in turn work directly on government-
funded projects. As a well-established
specialist service provider, ALE is
well-positioned to capitalise on the new
opportunities that will arise as the South
African government slowly brings private
investment into the market.

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Case study:
Stator Generator Transport, South Africa
Background:
ALE was contracted to transport stator
generators from Small Craft Harbour,
Richards Bay to Medupi Power Station in
Limpopo Province 985 kilometres from port
and Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga
Province 650 kilometres from port.
Other projects:
• The jack up, loading, transport, offloading
and jack down of seven 825te tugboats
on to a barge in the Port of Durban. We
combined a 14 axle conventional multi-
axle trailer and a 16 axle, 3 file SPT to
transport the tugs from a warehouse at the
port to a submersible dock.
• The loading, transporting and offloading
of a 460te ASD 3211 tugboat from
the fabrication yard to the synchrolift in
Cape Town Harbour. We used a 13 axle
conventional multi-axle trailer and a 14
axle SPT to move the 32.5 metre long,
11.2 metre wide and 16.2 metre high tug
a distance of 3.2 kilometres. The tug is
one of the biggest loads to be transported
in the Cape Town region.
• The transporting and jacking down of a
281te transformer. We used a 16 axle,
2 file Cometto and travelled 23 kilometres
in 3.5 hours.
SP RING 2010 • Is s ue 0 1
Services required:
This project involved collaboration between
ALE’s South African and UK operations
as we planned and then exported a large
amount of plant, equipment and manpower
with less than three months notice door to
door. Each 357te generator was transported
using two 16 axle, 3 file conventional bogies,
one AL500 Frame, three 8x8 FAUNS, a 6x6
Mercedes Benz and two 8x4 Mercedes Benz.
• T he salvaging of a 189te fishing trawler
from Melkbosstrand beach in a nature
reserve. We engineered an anchor
point to which a 500te strand jack was
connected to pull the 25 metre long, 7.2
metre wide and 14 metre high vessel
up the beach 40 metres. Once on the
beach, we lifted the vessel on to a multi-
axle trailer with a 4-point lift system for
transport 40 kilometres to Cape Town
Harbour for offloading at a synchrolift.
• The receiving and transporting of a
30te umbilical winch in the Cape Town
metropolitan area using a prime mover and
6 axle steerable trailer.
• T he receiving, handling and transport
of four 200te transformers from the
port of Saldanha to Koeberg Nuclear
Power Station. ALE received the first
transformer on to a 10 axle Self-Propelled
Transporter alongside a geared vessel
and staged the transformer awaiting
transport. We received and staged the
The transport involved a 14% incline while
travelling through Swaziland, and the Mfolozi
Bridge in South Africa had to be propped up
to support the weight. Future work on this
project will include offloading the generators
on site with a 4 point lift system, loading and
site transport, designing and supplying two
custom-built overhead gantry systems and
installing of all 12 units.
second and third transformers on 14
axle conventional multi-axle trailer. The
fourth transformer was loaded on to the
multi-axle trailer and transported to site.
We offloaded the transformers on to
their wheels using four 60te self climbing
jacks and a correction system.
• The transport of several 30te concrete
beams in the Cape Town area using a 6
axle steerable multi-axle trailer.
• The transport, offloading and installation
of 42 loads weighing between 187 and
230te for two major Open Cycle Gas
Turbine (OCGT) projects. Fifteen of the
loads were transported 45 kilometres north
of Cape Town Harbour using a twin truck
and trailer combination. ALE then installed
the units using a 280te capacity gantry
system. Another two trains were delivered
to Mosselbay Harbour 400 kilometres east
of Cape Town, and ALE transported the six
loads to the erection site 22 kilometres
from the port.
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new heights case studies
New Heights highlights recent ALE projects from around the world.
Case study:
Escravos Gas-to-Liquid Project, Nigeria
Background:
ALE has been heavily involved in the
EGTL Project, offloading, transporting and
installing all items onsite over 100te.
Case study:
Mexilhao Project, Brazil
Background:
ALE was contracted to perform three
skidding load-outs for a shipyard in Brazil.
Case study:
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Background:
ALE was contracted to jack up and load-
out a 5,995te offshore rig.
Case study:
Den Bosch, the Netherlands
Background:
ALE transported and installed a
4,200te concrete railway bridge using
176 axles of SPMT.
Used courtesy of www.transportmediasupport.nl
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Services required:
From the engineering and planning
stage in Houston to the installation of
two 2,200te reactors, ALE personnel
have been a constant presence on the
EGTL site in the Niger Delta. As well as
designing an innovative gantry system
which can be quickly skidded from one
position to another, ALE provided heavy
cranes up to 1,500te capacity and a large
SPMT fleet for the duration of the project.
Services required:
ALE performed the three skid load-
outs in two separate yards in the same
basin in Rio. All three had to take place
within 45 days and with a pull length
of 250 metres. Using strand jacks, we
successfully loaded out a 14,000te
jacket and two topsides of around 7,500
and 8,000te, respectively.
Services required:
The 97 metre long x 63 metre wide
x 40 metre high rig was transported
using 216 axles of SPMT. With the
weight of the trailers and the auxiliary
steelwork, the total load reached
6,931te. The rig was loaded out on to
the Hamiryah Pride barge for float off.
ALE provided all necessary engineering
works from load-out to float off.
Services required:
The project involved three stages –
installing the SPMTs, driving the bridge
to final position and placing the bridge
on supports. The bridge was built in a
radius, so the SPMTs had to be placed
in a radius as well. The transport
route was over 200 metres in a radius
and the maximum deflection of the
concrete bridge was 10 mm. Complete
installation took place by night during an
81 hour train stop.
personnel focus SP RING 2010 • Is s ue 0 1

After 46 years in the industry and 24 years

at ALE, Eric Anderson, Depot Manager, retired
in December 2009. For this first issue of New
Heights, he discusses his experiences.

Q: How did you get started in the heavy haulage industry?

A: I got a job at age 19 as a mechanic repairing vehicles. I worked my way up to
workshop foreman and then moved slowly to site operations as the company began
to do projects overseas. I particularly remember one project where we had to move
equipment around Mount Kilimanjaro through Masai territory, and had to deal with wild
elephants, giraffes and other animals crossing the (at times very unsuitable) roads on
which we were transporting the equipment.

Q: When did you join ALE?

A: I first met Roger Harries in the late 1970s, and we worked on a variety of projects
together, from petrochemical sites to submarine assembly. I stayed on when Roger left
to start ALE in 1983 but left to join him in 1985, when the company really took off.

Q: What were the early days like?

A: They were very busy – one year I travelled 40,000 miles to and from jobs around the
UK. One memorable job was for large slug catchers, where we moved two sets of four
It has been an vessels – three at 220te and one at 300te. We had to take our trailers to Dunkirk
to load the vessels, and then ship and roll off in phases. The larger vessel could only
eventful 46 years, travel at three to five miles per hour, so we were on the road for five days, moving from
but looking back lay-by to lay-by. We had to find a route through Lincolnshire, which was not easy. In
one village, we manoeuvred through the shops with only inches to spare – it was very
they have been nerve wracking!

years well spent,

Q: What roles have you had in the company?
and I have lots of A: A variety. When we moved to the Hixon site I had a long spell running operations. After
great memories. we acquired Brambles Heavy Contracting Division in 2002 I acted as depot manager
looking after the yard and maintenance, as well as overseeing the test certifications for
the lifting equipment.
In a nutshell, my job has been multi-faceted, from running the workshop, getting
fabrication done, running on-site projects and carrying out lifting operations to running
day-to-day operations, managing staff and working with customers.

Q: What did you enjoy most about your job?

A: I liked the variety of challenges and the focus on getting the job done well. The best
moments were when the on-site project manager would come over, shake my hand
and say, “I’m really pleased – you’ve done a really good job on this.”
I have also travelled around the world, visiting places like Hong Kong, Thailand,
Vietnam, the US, Canada, Italy, France, Korea, Egypt, South Africa, Spain and Poland.
I had one very memorable trip to far eastern Russia where it was -40°C, and because
of the weather neither the helicopter nor the aeroplane could fly us back. We had to
do a fourteen hour trip by truck, bus and then overnight train to get back to civilisation.
It has been an eventful 46 years, but looking back they have been years well spent,
and I have lots of great memories.

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new heights SP RING 2 0 1 0 • Issue 01

ALE GLOBAL CONTACTS: Europe Africa

United Kingdom North Africa
Staffordshire, Head Office +44 (0) 1889 272 500
+44 (0) 1889 272 500
South Africa
United Kingdom +27 (0) 21 842 2762
Middlesbrough
+44 (0) 1642 292 299
Middle East
The Netherlands
+31 (0) 76 571 5240 United Arab Emirates
+971 (0) 2 5511662
Spain
+34 91 375 7160 Qatar
+974 4567730
Germany
+49 (0) 211 9754889 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
+966 (0) 3 3448551
Italy
+44 (0) 1889 272 500
Russia Asia Pacific
+7 499 252 3207 Indonesia
Norway +62 21 31907912
+44 (0) 1642 292 299 Malaysia
+60 7 2553 202

North America Thailand

+66 38 893 700
USA
+1 (0) 713 946 3125 Taiwan
+44 (0) 1642 292 299
Mexico City
+52 555 2503417 Korea
+82 (0) 2 2040 7785
Mexico Veracruz
+52 833 2620193 Vietnam
+84 64 359 7771
Australia
South America
+60 7 2553 202
Brazil
+55 (11) 2480 5000
Argentina
+54 (11) 4811 4462
Venezuela
+58 286 9233279
Colombia
+54 (11) 4811 4462
Panama
+507 6704 9608

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