Port of Palm Beach moves massive turbine

Port of Palm Beach moves massive turbine    Officials at the Port of Palm Beach say a 350-ton gas turbine imported through the port for Florida Power & Light could be the single heaviest piece of machinery to ever pass through the port.

A 350-ton gas turbine is offloaded at the Port of Palm Beach onto a special 300-foot-long trainer assembly with 16 axles and 128 wheels. The turbine was being moved to a new power plant in Palm Beach County.

   The massive Mitsubishi turbine was offloaded from the big lift vessel Rickmers Jakarta by Teeters Agency & Stevedoring, with Beyel Brothers Crane & Rigging handling the specialized logistics needed to transport the turbine to the West County Power Plant near 20-Mile Bend, 20 miles inland from West Palm Beach.
   The move required a 300-foot-long trailer with 16 axles and 128 wheels to distribute the weight. The total combined weight of the turbine and trailer was slightly more than 1 million pounds.
   The port is handling an increasing amount of heavy-lift shipments. The turbine follows previous shipments of 21 100-ton modules that moved through the port in 2006. Other major shipments for the project will continue through April.