Transporting Large Prefabricated Components using a Driverless Vehicle

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The team at Greenwich Peninsula Upper Riverside had a successful shipment of 28 pre-fabricated raised running track elements to Green Peninsula from Venice, Italy. Each element had to be transported from a barge to a local allocated storage area then eventually on to site from the storage area for installation along public highways.

Transporting via seas avoided the need for approximately 70 lorries to make the journey, saving almost 70,000 miles of road transport, diesel and carbon emissions.

To carry out the land transport element of the works, Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT) were used. In this case, a five axle, remote controlled platform vehicle, designed for the transportation of large objects. Each island element, being unique in size, shape and weight, was fixed to a temporary transportation cradle and loaded onto a SPMT. Special consideration had to be taken when transporting each element, ensuring each movement was not obstructed by street furniture.

The deliveries were made at night, by use of SPMTs which was beneficial. The road infrastructure on the peninsula is still underdeveloped so the trunk route on to site would have caused  a lot of disruption to the local area, with a lot of road furniture having to be temporarily removed.

The SMPT can swing each axel through 360 degrees allowing the SPMT to manoeuvre through, over and into spaces where the use of a traditional articulated lorry would fail.

Benefits included:

  • Reduced carbon emissions
  • Reduced community impact
  • Reduced risk
  • Very manoeuvrable
  • Reduced ground loading

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Entry submitted by Mace


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