Project
Flint Hills Resources chose Vic’s Crane & Heavy Haul to transport a 160-foot-long, 750,000-pound process vessel by barge and trailers to its Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota. The two-year feat involved coordinating the loading and unloading of transport vehicles, obtaining permits for the load on highways, coordinating with utilities, and redesigning roads and bridges that were not designed for such a heavy load.
Solution
Bentley software allowed Vic’s to detail every aspect of this USD 100 million project. Vic’s used Bentley products including SUPERLOAD, AECOsim, and ConstructSim for planning the equipment transport and installation and for designing the roads, bridges, and to determine the lifting equipment required to get the vessel to its final destination. Sharing models with the other engineering and construction firms involved in the project allowed coordination and collaboration on the best approaches for transportation and installation.
Outcome
Two years of planning culminated in the final move of the vessel into the refinery and onto its foundation — a process that took nine hours. Vic’s ability to share models of the transport plan with other stakeholders led to a safe, well-executed, and successful project which had no unexpected issues. Bentley software enabled Vic's to provide a complete transportation solution and allowed the firm to undertake the project with less risk.
Software
The firm responsible for designing the refinery process unit upgrades provided ConstructSim models of the entire unit where the vessel was installed. Vic’s integrated its AECOsim transport and installation files with the ConstructSim models so that other construction projects could be coordinated with the vessel installation. As a result, Vic’s was able to design an installation approach which would work best with the plant construction schedule.