The convoy at the harbour in Barletta: 76 meters long and almost 500 tons.

Since 2007 Alpiq has been constructing a modern 400MW gas-fired combined cycle power station in the south Italian town of San Severo in the name of the company EnPlus, and more than one half of the project is now complete. A milestone was set with the delivery of the 400MW gas turbine. The transport of the 300 ton load was without doubt spectacular.

Spectacular transport with 500 ton convoy

The task was to transport the turbine from where it was built at Ansaldo Energia in Genoa via sea and land the 2000 kilometres to the south of Italy. This was a job for an experienced transport company. The answer was found with the company Fagioli SPA, which back in 2005 had transported the famous submarine "Enrico Toti" to the Milan National Museum for Science and Technology. Once the transport boat had arrived in the Barletta harbour in Apulia on the 31st of August after a four day voyage, the transport company took over the heavy load. The journey now meant that 107 kilometres had to be travelled, mostly at night, over roundabouts, bridges and crossroads. "No obstruction was easy since the convoy was 76 meters in length, 6.5 meters wide and weighed almost 500 tons ", reports Marco Sacchi, the Project Manager with Alpiq Produzione in Italy. The safety on the roads was therefore taken care of by a team of 25 together with four police cars and five escort vehicles. Where necessary traffic lights and road signs were dismantled at short notice to allow the convoy to pass.

Thanks to the experience and the commitment of all those involved, the transport was carried out without incident, and after a drive of 14 hours the turbine on the low loader arrived safe and sound in San Severo. Since the 16th of September work is progressing on installing it in the power station.

• San Severo thermal power station