SPOTCHECKSAFETY

To summarise the whole incidentunder investigation, party ‘A’ hadsubcontracted the transportation ofa 203-tonne reactor fromImmingham Docks, UK, to a

nearby refinery. The travelling distance wasonly 7.8 km, but a short distance from thedocks as the trailer negotiated a long curvewith a camber of 2.8°, the transportcombination tipped over and the reactorlanded in a ditch next to the road. The cost of the salvage operation and the

damage repair to the reactor were covered bythe transport insurance arranged at theclient’s request by party ‘A’, which claimedthat the cause of the accident was thenegligence of the trailer operator. Party ‘B’(the trailer operator) denied this claim. It took eight years to obtain a judgement

in March 2013. After presenting all theevidence at the High Court in London, thejudge rejected the allegations of party ‘B’ andfound it solely responsible for the accidentand its financial consequences.Prior to the accident, the project manager

of party ‘A’ had visited the transportcombination just before it entered a longcurve in the road (see picture 1) and where,approximately 200 m further on, it tippedover . He spoke with the transportsupervisor and asked whether everythingwas going fine. The supervisor of party ‘B’

trailer deck above the road surface at eachcorner. It proved that the trailer height at the

right and left rear end was 112 cm above theroad and at the front right side 108.5 cm andfront left side 110 cm. These measurements,as well as the pictures taken directly after theaccident, were presented in an officialaccident report. According to the police escort, which

drove behind the transport combination, thetrailer tilted slightly to the lower side of thecurve, tilted a bit more and suddenly thewhole combination tipped over. The lashingchains broke loose, the reactor landed in theditch at the lower side of the curve next tothe road and the trailer fell back on its tyreson the road. In the opinion of project manager ‘A’, the

tipping of the trailer was caused by notcompensating the trailer to a horizontal levelwhen negotiating the curve, which had a 2.8°camber. When project manager ‘A’ arrived atthe accident he had asked the operating crewwhere the spirit level was and they repliedthat they had left it in the driver’s cabin ofthe tractor unit as the road was in goodcondition. They had obviously misjudgedthe camber of this long curve.The opinions of the operating crew of

party ‘B’ were not as clear as the statementand accident report of project manager ‘A’.

acknowledged that the planned 7.6 kmjourney was proceeding to plan and theproject manager of party ‘A’ then left for therefinery to open the gate and prepare the sitefor the offloading of the reactor. After about 10 minutes, when the

transport combination did not show up, hedrove back 6 km along the planned routeand found the reactor lying on its back in aditch next to the road while the 12-axle linetrailer was still on the road and standing onits tyres (see pictures 2 and 3).

Accident scene

When the project manager arrived at theaccident scene, he immediately investigatedthe condition of the trailer for hydraulichose ruptures or other possible causes. Healso noticed that the trailer was standing atthe same camber as the road – and this wasrecorded by measuring the height of the

In part 1 of this article,published in the last issue ofHLPFI, safety expert RichardKrabbendam described thecause of an accident inAugust 1988 and the legalconsequences it had for theparties involved. In the finalpart, he reviews the technicaland legal judgements.

www.heavyliftpfi.com September/October 2013 67

Why did this loadtip over? – part 2

Picture 1: The transportcombination shortlybefore it tipped over.

Picture 2: The reactor lying by the road.

SPOTCHECKSAFETY

The court caseDuring a three-day court case all witnessesand technical experts of party ‘A’ and party‘B’ were given the opportunity to state theircase. It soon became clear that if you end upin court, make sure you really have a caseand that you are very secure in yourunderstanding of what had really happened,as the lawyers of each party will keep askingquestions until they receive a satisfactoryanswer. The legal enquiry went back to the phase

when party ‘A’ had asked party ‘B’ to quotefor the transport job. To the advantage ofparty ‘A’, the lawyers had clearly asked whatkind of service had been required from party‘B’. They had even enclosed a transportationdrawing and preliminary planning schedulewith the enquiry. To the disadvantage of party ‘A’, the

company had quoted the job by means of ahandwritten fax with no conditions of workmentioned whatsoever in the document. Ithad enclosed a stability calculation for aseparate project load for which the companyhad quoted stating that it would prefer awider trailer configuration for the load, dueto critical stability. No remarks or questionshad been asked about stability and trailertype selection for the reactor, which hadobviously been accepted by party ‘B’. Party‘A’ had then confirmed the transport order toparty ‘B’.

Disadvantages of three-pointsuspensionl Smaller area of stability.l Less suitable for high CoG loads.

Advantages of four-pointsuspension

l Greater area of stability.l More suitable for high CoG loads.

Disadvantages of four-pointsuspension

l More difficult to control and thereforemore labour intensive.

l Higher risk of overloading axles andtrailer structure.

l Preferably used only on good roads asotherwise trailer ‘rocking’ can occur.

If we look at all the above points, theproject manager of party ‘A’ stated thatalthough a four-point suspension would bemore likely to overload the axles, he stillpreferred to use a four-point suspension, asopposed to a three-point suspension system,as the CoG of the load was in his opinionrather high. Therefore he selected the “bestoption of the worst” and instructed theoperators of party ‘B’ to set the trailer to afour-point suspension mode. It was the opinion of party ‘A’ that the

Choice of suspension systemDuring the court case, party ‘B’ keptinsisting that party ‘A’ had made a mistake bysetting the trailer on a four-point suspensionsystem and had therefore caused the trailerto tip as it could not be controlled.Party ‘A’ proved in court by means of a

scale model that a three-point suspensionsystem is less stable then a four-pointsuspension system. It can be compared witha table on three legs or four legs. If onecrosses with the centre of gravity (CoG)over one of the lines which connects the legsof the table, the table will tip over. A comparison of the advantages and

disadvantages of a three and four-pointsuspension system are summarised below:

Advantages of three-pointsuspension

l Easier operational control for levelling,which is therefore less labour intensive.

l It limits the risk of overloading the trailerspine beam and platform supports as wellas the risk of axle overload.

l It is less subject to dynamic effects as theload always rests on three points, thuseliminating ‘rocking’.

The diagram above shows a drawing ofthe symmetrical three-point suspensionsystem for the actual load in question.

September/October 2013 www.heavyliftpfi.com68

Exceptional craft require an exceptional transport company

Exceptional crafts require an exceptional transport company and for that reason Sevenstar Yacht Transport has a subsidiary that takes care of this challenging job – Sevenstar Exceptional Marine Transport (EMT).

Sevenstar EMT has a bespoke professional en-gineering department that can provide individual shipping solutions for each exceptional craft

www.sevenstar-emt.cominfo@sevenstar-emt.com

Sevenstar Exceptional Marine TransportContact: Richard KlabbersPhone: +31 204488590Mobile: +31 653548755

to be shipped, from tugs, dredgers and barges to pontoons and marina docks. In fact, as long as it fl oats, Sevenstar EMT can transport your craft anywhere in the World, safely and hassle-free.

Discover why the most demanding shipyards and owners call us the world’s fi nest transport service. Sevenstar EMT, shipping solutions tailor made for you.

GOLDHOFER HEAVY-DUTY MODULES

QUALIFIED SOLUTIONSQUALIFIED SOLUTIONS FOR EXTREME TRANSPORT CHALLENGES.Our heavy-duty modular systems can be individually matched to meet your requirements. At Goldhofer, providing qualifi ed solutions means not only building resilient high quality products, but also giving our customers highly functional solutions for transportation and logistic challenges. Through our comprehensive project engineering and competent after sales program, Goldhofer is there when you really need to get down to business.

Goldhofer products are the result of over 300 years of investment, development of new technologies, and perfection of our customer service. One thing is absolutely clear; Economy is ultimately a function of high resale value, long term durability, and safety. This is what we stand for and promise. Invest in your future. Goldhofer – The Original.

SPOTCHECKSAFETY

issue has never been whether a three orfour-point suspension was right or wrong.The cause of the accident was that the traileroperators did not compensate the trailer anyfurther after it had stopped just before thecurve where the accident happened.Although one operator confirmed that thetrailer was compensated, the evidence, aswell as the statement of another operator ofparty ‘B’, proved that they did not furthercompensate the trailer after they started tonegotiate the curve.

It is important to prepare a detailedmanual of the works that need to beexecuted, outlining the scope of work, liftingand transport plans, stowage plans, stabilitycalculations and so on.Always ensure that if an accident occurs,

immediately see to it that injured personsreceive medical treatment and thereafterreport clearly in writing what has happened,illustrated with pictures if possible.

HLPFI

Please note, this article is intended forguidance only. Whilst every care has beentaken to ensure the accuracy of the contents,no responsibility will be accepted by thepublishers for any errors.

What have we learnt? Make sure that any orders for transport orerection work received are confirmed inwriting and that they clearly state theconditions under which the work will beexecuted. Furthermore, a checklist of critical points

should be made and checked beforetransport or erection work is executed andensure that these points are adhered to andthat clear instructions (in writing) are givento operating personnel.

www.heavyliftpfi.com September/October 2013 71

h e a v y m o d u l a r t r a i l e r s a n d s e l f - p r o p e l l e d v e h i c l e s

building for the heaviest duties

INDUSTRIE COMETTO S.p.A.

udomyvaeh

asreliartralu

porp-flesdna

elcihevdelle

s

om - wwwo.cometto@comettcTEL. +39.0171.263300 - F FAX +39.0171.266335VIA CUNEO, 20 - 12011 BORGO S.DINDUSTRIE COMETT

omo.comett.com - wwwAX +39.0171.266335

ALALMAZZO - CN - ITVIA CUNEO, 20 - 12011 BORGO S.DO S.p.A.

YLLY

htrofgnidliub

seitudtseivaeheh

www.jumbo-offshore.com www.heavyliftspecialist.com

Richard Krabbendam was a heavy lift specialistduring his whole working career, after which he formedKrabbendam Advisory Service. A Master of MechanicalEngineering from Delft University of Technology, he hasworked with BigLift and Mammoet, and was a co-founder ofITREC. He helped to set up Jumbo Offshore and was involvedin the development of its super heavy lift carrier fleet, the J-Class, which uses two 900-tonne mast cranes for subseainstallation works. Since his retirement from Jumbo he hasbeen working as a freelance trainer/engineering consultant.

Picture 3: After the accident the 12-axle line trailer was still on the road and standing on its tyres.

Meeting All Kinds of Transport Needs

NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd., is result of merger between NYK-Hinode Line,Ltd. and NYK Global Bulk Corporation effective on 1st October, 2013.

NYK-Hinode Line, Ltd. has been developed as one of the pioneers for Heavy lift carrier since founding in 1912.Our multi-purpose fleet transports all kind of cargoes, including project cargoes and steel products, to the world.

One of the world's largest handy bulk carriers, NYK Global Bulk Corporation handles many kinds of bulk cargo, coke, coal and other similar materials around the world since its establishment in 1988.

The new company operates several types of vessels. The company will expand and develop services of all kinds to meet and exceed the customers’ needs and market demands.

www.nbpc.co.jp