Long-Range Crane Shipment
Berard checked the width, depth and height clearances for every bridge, canal, lock and other potential sticking point along the entire 8,842-mile voyage.
It also chose the towing company that would provide the barge, tugs and maritime crews to transport the crane on the fourmonth voyage.
In addition, Berard and a third-party expert both calculated barge and crane stability, which enabled Berard to specify the wind and wave limits that were safe to sail in.
If wave heights or wind speeds exceeded the limits, the tugs and barge needed to seek safe harbor.
Beyond the route and sea planning, Berard was responsible for specifying the size, capacity and stability of the barge, and for engineering how the crane would be loaded onto it, secured in place and offloaded.
In addition, Berard crews fabricated, installed and removed the sea-fastening components and performed the on-loading and off-loading of the crane.
“ All of the things we had to plan, calculate, arrange and do are pretty routine for us,” said Berard.“ The challenge was doing them quickly so the tugs and barge could sail by mid November, just two and a half months after we were awarded the job.”
That timing was essential so the tugs and barge could travel through the St. Lawrence
Above: The Berard team for this project gathered after securing the crane to the barge in Manitowoc. Right: The crane is being stored in Seattle until its permanent home in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in nearby Bremerton, Washington, is ready for the crane to be installed.
Seaway before it closed for winter.
Selected Barge and Tugs
The Big Blue crane measures 197 feet long, 45 feet wide, 155 feet high, weighs 1,200 tons and has a high center of gravity, so Berard specified a barge that was big, strong and buoyant enough to remain stable in a variety of sea conditions.
That barge, the OG723, owned by SEA OG, measured 260 feet long, 72 feet wide and 16 feet deep— large enough to support the crane, yet narrow enough to comply with the St. Lawrence Seaway’ s 78-foot width restriction.
The primary tug on the project was the 4,080-horsepower Ocean Tower, owned by Dann Ocean Towing. It did all of the towing.
The assist tug was McKeil Marine’ s 2,000-horsepower Jarrett M, which helped maneuver the barge when needed.
Smooth Roll On
Berard rolled the crane onto the barge and positioned it using 48 axle lines of self-propelled modular transporters( SPMTs), and two modular beam systems( MBS).
All the components came from Berard’ s inventory and were used in a configuration that Berard engineered specially for this job.
The SPMTs were all Scheuerle four- or six-axle units, each with 48-ton capacity, allwheel steering and hydraulic leveling.
The SPMTs were arranged in three parallel files, each consisting of two six-axle modules and one four-axle.
Each file was powered by its own portable power pack mounted at one end.
One file of SPMTs ran along the left side of the crane’ s base, a second file ran directly under the center of the crane and a third file ran along the right side of the crane’ s base.
Sitting perpendicular across the three files of SPMTs were two of Berard’ s MBS modular beams, each 40 feet long.
The two beams spread the crane’ s weight evenly to all three files of SPMTs.
The control and hydraulic systems of all nine SPMT modules were interconnected so that all of them traveled together and all 48 axles steered in unison, thanks to a Berardcreated computer program.
As a result, one operator controlled all
www. cranehotline. com • June 2026 27