INNOVATION EDGE™: CABLE TRANSPORT TRAILER
Murphy has developed a cable transport trailer that allows large cable drums to be transported over difficult terrain, reducing the need for cable jointing, enabling winter working and saving costs.
Description
The cable transport trailer has been developed by Murphy to transport power cable drums across difficult ground conditions to various joint bay locations.
The unit comprises a bespoke trailer base mounted on a tracked undercarriage recycled from a redundant excavator. Attached to the base are two cable drum supports fitted with rams and actuators to enable the unit to cope with the load exerted from the cable drum.
The cable transport trailer is towed by a tractor or bulldozer depending on the ground conditions. The tracks allow the unit to be transported across varying and difficult terrain to be located in close proximity to the cable installation site.
This innovation was widely praised for its conception, design and use, and has since been promoted by client SSE (formerly Scottish & Southern Energy.
Benefits
- Saves up to 50% on the amount of cable jointing bays due to its ability to transport large cable drums along the route.
- Saves 5% -10% on total project costs due to the reduced number of joint bays required.
- Increases winter-time productivity due to its ability to be transported in all types of environments. This allows work to progress in winter months when the ground is soft.
- Reduces overall cable costs and carbon footprint resulting from the smaller number of drums required.
- Provides a safer method of working compared to conventional cable transportation methods.
Application
Murphy acted as principal contractor on SSE’s £3.5m Whitebridge to Tirinie 132kV cable project in Aberfeldy, Scotland.
The 3km route passed through a rugged area of the Scottish countryside. Using the cable transport trailer enabled Murphy to achieve the key programme dates, which would have otherwise been extremely difficult over the harsh winter period.
The advantages of the unit made it possible for Murphy to alter the design of the project and hence provide a greater cost saving to the client by using larger drums. These drums allowed the use of longer, 1,000m cable lengths instead of the traditional 500m ones. So, three fewer cable joint bays were required resulting in a cost saving of £145,000 for the project.
Despite its location in a highly environmentally sensitive area, the project was completed with zero environmental incidents and zero complaints.
End user feedback
The cable transport trailer used on the Whitebridge to Tirinie Project allowed Murphy to overcome the challenging winter conditions the team was faced with in Scotland and deliver the project on programme.
“Murphy came to the SSE project with the right attitude of teamwork, education and innovation. Murphy limited environmental impacts in what were the most challenging, inhospitable and sensitive natural environments.” – Chris Meeks, SSE environmental project manager.
Market potential
The cable transport trailer can be used on any cable project for transporting cable drums containing up to 1km of cable.
Transportation of larger drums of over 1km of cable can also be achieved with some modification to the supports. However, cross bonding may need to be taken into account during the design stage.
The trailer can be adapted with additional fittings to transport the drums on the road, pipeline spreads or mountainous terrain.
Learn more
For more information, please contact Murphy marketing & communications department at communications@murphygroup.co.uk
