WATCH: Emergency multi-modal transport due to transformer critical failure / / intra Chicago

Caroline Ko
Case Studies

On September 12th, 2019, a major utility company in the Chicago area suffered a critical failure when one of their transformers caught fire and was destroyed.

The utility company needed to get the transformer replaced quickly in order to maintain grid commitments and fortunately, they had a spare stored in a Chicago suburb; so they called Logisticus Group to move the stored transformer from the suburbs to replace the one that was destroyed in the city.

Several key challenges to overcome ⇢
  1. We had to move a 380 MVA Royal Smit transformer that weighed 380,000 lbs.
  2. The other (destroyed) transformer was located on Goose Island – a tiny island that sits between two branches of the Chicago River. It’s difficult to access with large heavy machinery and specialized transportation vehicles.
  3. Normal loads of transport – including road and city rail – were inadequate for a transformer of this size and weight. Bridges were TOTALLY off limits, as they could collapse under this weight of this transformer. Safety is always the #1 consideration in our planning process.

Once we got the call, the challenge was clear. It would be no easy feat to get this functional transformer from the suburbs to an island in the middle of the city.

However, we knew that with careful preparation and our specialized expertise, we could complete this extraordinary project (and we did).

Specific capabilities we utilized ⇢
  • Transport feasibility assessment
  • Cost benefit analysis
  • Supplier selection
  • Obtaining permits
  • Project execution
  • Potential crisis management
WATCH how we executed ⇢

SPECIAL THANKS to our partners who assisted us on this project ⇢ Robo Aerial, video production / / Stevenson Crane Service, Inc. / / Dearborn Companies / / Ceres Barge Line / Ceres Consulting, LLC

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Contact us to learn more.

We’d love to talk more with you about our multi-faceted capabilities. There is no problem too big for us to handle. If you’re not yet convinced, we have many more case studies we’re eager to review with you whenever you’re ready.

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Reverse Logistics

Our customer required a refurbishment and fulfillment facility centrally located to ensure serviceable inventory country-wide. The primary objective is to receive, assess and process their inventory coming back from construction sites to bring back into service for re-use. Logisticus built an operational plan to operate the facility full time and is providing warehouse services, long-term storage, crane and offload services, inventory management, TMS, procurement and reporting. The location is highly unique given that it has truck, rail and barge access all on one site. The facility has 6 product lines, custom TMS to support inventory management of primary and secondary skus (~150). The solution was in place within 2 weeks from notice to proceed. As a result of our performance, this warehouse has become the centralized warehouse for all activity for our customer.

Project Cargo Transport

From 2015 to 2017, Logisticus executed 4 critical outage projects for our customer in South Texas. Our customer experienced Critical Failures of their Main Power Transformer at 4 different sites all located in Texas. Logisticus was able to mobilize within weeks of the customer notification and expedite TX DOT permits and bridge studies. Logisticus performed full scope, which included all electrical work – complete undressing and redressing. With our ability to source the most optimal trailers to meet the demands of the route in lieu of making the route fit the trailer, we are able to find the quickest, most efficient and safest route from source to project site.

These Transformers ranged from 200,000 lbs to 350,000 lbs, each of which we created a different trailer solution for.

Our in-house team is able to create custom turn drawings, lift plans and trailer drawings. We also take on all scope including loading/unloading and electrical work, single crane picks, jack and slide and overhead gantry cranes.

Creative Transport Strategies

In 2018, Logisticus was hired to mobilize 112 utility trucks from the US mainland to Puerto Rico for a Hurricane Maria FEMA deployment to restore power to the most devastated parts of the island. The team at Logisticus was able to come up a unique transport strategy utilizing two barges to deploy 6 utilities from the Northeast and the Midwest to Puerto Rico. The scope included inland transport and mobilization and transport of two barges. Logisticus’ in-house engineering team was able to come up with a stowage and lashing plan optimizing use of a deck barge. Within 6 weeks of the notice to proceed from the customer our team delivered all 112 vehicles to the island so our customer was able to go to work. With our assistance, the on-island team made up of over 110 linemen were able to help restore power to over 400,000 devastated people.

Distribution Center Management

In 2013 and 2014, Logisticus executed a large HVDC SubstationProject located in Alberta, Canada. There were 4 total substations where Logisticus was hired to offload all inbound components, inspect components and create a customized management system to hold inventory digitally. Logisticus was able to create a system to track and maintain an inventory of all inbound units from bolts to large Main Power Transformers. With the use of the Logisticus Management Software, we were able to save the customer time and cost with an accurate digital footprint of all material drastically reducing any stop work orders due to material and double ordering any material due to lack of inventory. Logisticus was able to save the customer over 5 million dollars in schedule impacts and additional material orders.

Multi-Modal Solutions

In 2016 Logisticus Group worked on a project to transport 2 Large Steam Turbines and 2 Generators from a facility in New York to a newly constructed Barge Slip. This operation as was never attempted before so Logisticus had to initiate an innovative, newly created transport plan with NYSDOT and NYS Canal Authority to gain approval to close a major New York State Interstate. The plan was created and executed within 6 weeks of conception. This operation used a multi-modal solution to transit the route and load a Break Bulk Vessel to deliver to the customer. The units were railed to a siding outside the Plant and then taken via SPMT up and over the highway in the middle of the night, which included numerous land closures and road modifications. The night move involved 9 different utilities, which needed to raise or lower their lines for the transport to pass under; The coordination of this effort alone was taxing on the Project Staff. The units were taken to a newly built barge slip along the Mohawk River at Lock 8 and from there they were loaded into a hopper barge and taken to the Port of Coeymans. The 4 units had a total weight of 2 million pounds.

Consulting Services

One of our Oil & Gas customers was looking to ship a large stripper reactor from Quebec to California for an emergency move. They requested a full multi-modal evaluation to include projected timelines, feasibility and cost outlay. After a thorough evaluation, our team determined that the most economical and fastest path was to break the unit into multiple pieces for road transport to be re-assembled at the site. The decision saved two months of downtime and millions of dollars for the customer.

Site and Cargo Surveyors

Our customer was looking for a team that could be an extension of their full-time staff in the field. They needed someone they trusted that could oversee operations to ensure safety procedures followed, productive daily activity and inspection to ensure components arrived at their job site in great condition to immediately be commissioned for work. Additionally, our customer needed support managing and driving out detention charges with service providers. All activity is actively maintained in our proprietary custom TMS and daily updates are sent to the customer to allow for rapid changes as/if needed. Our operations team has deployed to 25 sites to support this initiative that continues to grow.

Expedited Transportation Permit Services

Our customer hired us to transport a stored 166MVA transformer from storage yard to their project site in Michigan. Our team worked with multiple suppliers to identify the best equipment to optimize lead time, permit requirements, utility costs and permits. We coordinated hand-in-hand with state DOT on routing and worked with county and state on alternate options on a daily basis to obtain an approved route within 4 weeks even though we encountered 10 failed routes through the process. We were able to deliver earlier than expected and on budget.

Holistic Project & Vendor Management

In 2017 our customer came to us with the request to oversee their project execution. They wanted control of contracts but needed a partner to ensure execution and be their eyes and ears in the field. The project had an added complexity with three different origin locations, from which components needed to be tightly sequenced. The primary services offered were Project Management and Coordination. Our team coordinated with state DOTs and police to ensure schedule was attainable as well as with suppliers to ensure schedule and budget were maintained. Our pre-planning, field ops team, GPS implementation and custom TMS were integral to the project’s success.

Route & Permit Feasibility Studies

Logisticus has performed Transport Feasibility Assessments for over 10 gigawatts of Power Projects throughout North and South America. We have a unique ability to use the industry fleet of trailers and not zero in on particular type as required by most asset owners. This gives our customer the ability to source to any carrier in the market and optimize pricing from their carrier fleet. We have added technology tools to our service such as mounted lasers and drones for overhead images.

The traditional survey will outline issues/concerns with routes while ours will show you ways to mitigate the risk while delivering your components to your Project Site.

Our relationships with State and Local Department of Transports allow us to work upstream of project execution to come up with routing that will hold true from planning to execution.

Construction Site Assessment

Logisticus has performed many On-Site Construction Assessments prior to deliveries to ensure sites are ready to receive superload components. These assessments take the OEM specifications and ensure all site roads and pads are built to those specifications based on physical measurements and data points from drones.

In addition, Logisticus has performed Transport Studies for early stage development of Wind Projects. These Transport Studies conform to all Industrial Siting Permit Applications for State Departments.

Government Relations

Logisticus has relationships with numerous State and Local Department of Transport entities which allow us to consult as a 3rdparty representative for your oversize transport.

We have worked to expedite permits for critical outages, worked on 3rd party bridge engineering studies and acted as a transport consultant for developers of Power Plants to ensure that their schedule is holding true.

In 2016, Logisticus worked on the largest Component to move cross state in New York and Pennsylvania and identified a multitude of bridges, which were inadequate for the transport. In doing so we assisted our customer in narrowing down to a specific trailer type, lowering their over all transport cost.

In 2017, Logisticus assisted a customer to transport a large volume of superloads into California due to CHP having very strict nuisances about transportation. This Government Liaison work enabled our customer to avoid millions of dollars due to schedule impact and site delays.

Transportation Management System (TMS)

In 2015, our customer came to us asking us to create a portal for their customer to be able to submit shipment requests. The portal would be required to manage transportation and be communicated back to the end customer. The Transportation Management System (TMS) built for our customer takes the shipment request from cradle to proof of delivery, including spot quotes, contract rates and detention requests. Our customer loves the system because it segmented that specific business portfolio of information without having to go through years of effort and surplus spend to get a system that still didn͛t meet their distinct needs.

Warehouse Management Systems

In 2013 and 2014, Logisticus executed a large HVDC SubstationProject located in Alberta, Canada. There were 4 total substations where Logisticus was hired to offload all inbound components, inspect components and create a customized management system to hold inventory digitally. A key focus, if not the primary focus, was to ensure maintenance of ͚chain of custody͛. Logisticus was able to create a system to track and maintain inventory of all inbound units from bolts to large Main Power Transformers. The tandem of our on-site personnel managing the process/data and our Materials Management System (MMS) was integral. With the use of the Logisticus Management Software, we were able to save the customer time and cost with an accurate digital footprint of all material drastically reducing any stop work orders due to material and double ordering any material due to lack of inventory. Logisticus was able to save the customer over 5 million dollars in schedule impacts and additional material orders.

Maintenance System & Document Control

In 2014, our customer came to us with a requirement to track maintenance activity and documents for their components. Our tech team built a custom system to support these requirements that track all activity by serial number, houses a maintenance calendar initiating alerts for required service and creates daily and custom reports. Prior to now, there was not an organized, efficient manner for our customer to achieve these results and accurately maintain component history to ensure warranty requirements were met in a systemic way.

Asset Tracking

Asset Tracking In 2017 our customer came to us with a need to better track components and equipment on their wind project. They required better data, time stamps, daily metrics and detention tracking. Logisticus was able to build a system with satellite-based trackers applied to each trailer giving updates every 5 minutes. We also set up geofences at various locations to provide notifications when trucks were ͛X͛miles from port, site and pad. This system not only provided real-time data to allow for real-time adjustments but also provided daily and overall project metrics to manage overall efficiencies in scheduling, loading and detention management. This service has been an extreme success for all that have utilized it.

Custom Design Engineering

We were contacted by our customer to look into designing a replacement wind blade yard dolly for use at their manufacturing facilities. We had an initial at site visit to review the existing dolly and identify the requirements to be met on the new design. Once the basic information was outlined, we began 3D modeling a new prototype dolly. Based on continuous feedback and design criteria changes, we went through several iterations before having a final approved model design. Upon the approval of the design, we created shop fabrication drawings and submitted them for fabrication of the prototype dolly. Once completed, the dolly was run through a series of active field tests to ensure that it met or exceeded all design parameters. The prototype dolly met or exceeded all initial design requirements and is now undergoing additional changes based on feedback from other departments within the customer’s company. All these changes will be noted and documented for the final drawing packages.

Rail Clearance

The customer contacts us regarding a rail clearance drawing that they will need to provide for the transportation of their dimensional components. We gather the critical inputs such as car type and component specifications. Typically we will also receive 3D models of the components being transported to ensure that we have an accurate representation of the overall dimensions. Once all the relevant information is collected we will create a clearance drawing identifying the specific railcar type with the component(s) loaded and an information data block for the clearance dimensions and weights. This is then submitted back to the customer for final submission to the applicable railway(s). Any changes are completed and noted through revision control of the drawing(s).

Engineering & Design Services

We are contacted by our customer to evaluate the need for design services and evaluate the scope of work. From there, we will setup a group discussion or an on-site visit to review the project in more depth and detail. Once the specifications and scope of the work is determined we begin creating 3D models of the project and perform basic FEA testing (if required), all while sharing the results and design direction with the customer. Upon a completed and approved design, we then create a drawing package from the models. Any changes in the design will be handled through revision control on the drawings.

Critical Failures

Our Customer had two Transformers that were struck by lightning and destroyed, causing a site outage. Logisticus came up with a plan to expedite permits and deliver the units ASAP. The Texas permit system typical turnaround time is 8-12 weeks. Logisticus was able to coordinate with state contacts to expedite the permit, which was obtained in 4 weeks. Our scope of work was to disassemble, transport, redress and test to IEEE standards. We worked with suppliers to put a plan together to dis-assemble all ancillary components and package into newly constructed crates. We were able to deliver the project on time and under budget with zero permit delays or impacts to site schedule.

Warehousing

Our customer required a refurbishment and fulfillment facility centrally located to ensure serviceable inventory country-wide. Logisticus built an operational plan to operate the facility full time and is providing warehouse services, long-term storage, crane and offload services, inventory management, TMS, procurement and reporting. The location is highly unique given that it has truck, rail and barge access all on one site. The facility has 6 product lines, custom TMS to support inventory management of primary and secondary skus (~150). The solution was in place within 2 weeks from notice to proceed. As a result of our performance, this warehouse has become the centralized warehouse for all activity for our customer.

TAR/Outage Support

Our Customer had two Transformers that were struck by lightning and destroyed, causing a site outage. Logisticus came up with a plan to expedite permits and deliver the units ASAP. The Texas permit system typical turnaround time is 8-12 weeks. Logisticus was able to coordinate with state contacts to expedite the permit, which was obtained in 4 weeks. Our scope of work was to disassemble, transport, redress and test to IEEE standards. We worked with suppliers to put a plan together to dis-assemble all ancillary components and package into newly constructed crates. We were able to deliver the project on time and under budget with zero permit delays or impacts to site schedule.

Custom Recruiting & Staffing

Our customer came to us needing experts in the field acting as an independent 3rd party to mitigate all the various competing supplier agendas and ensure operations were effective and productive. Their major concern was driving out idle time and especially detention costs at port and site. Our field team was deployed to oversee port and site operations managing the division of duties and contractual handoffs. We set up an escalation policy, periodic audits and daily reporting of KPIs to drive project success.

Emergency Preparedness Team/Emergency Support Team

Following hurricane Maria our utility customer called us to figure out how to quickly transport 112 utility trucks to Puerto Rico. Logisticus came up with a solution within a few days. Logisticus worked through Christmas with the ever-changing schedule. The Scope of work was transport from 6 different origins to Port of Export, locating and positioning suitable barge, loading barge, transporting barge to Puerto Rico, discharge in Puerto Rico and hand over to customer at interim staging yard. During this process Logisticus: maintained constantly changing inventory of available barges/tugs, mobilized quickly to the East Coast, worked with Puerto Rico Hacienda for an expedited release process for the Cargo and delivered all 112 Utility Trucks safely to the island. Due to expert coordination, all Stow Plans were adhered to with no leftover trucks and no major damage occurred to any of the 112 vehicles. The project was Delivered On Time and Under Budget.

Plant Relocation & Line Assembly

Our customer notifies us of planned equipment moves; We then set a facility site visit to evaluate and pre-plan the project. During the facility visit, detailed measurements of the equipment are taken, best breakpoints are determined and egress/ingress reviewed including door sizes, dock locations and avoidance of impacting existing operations. From the beginning until complete we coordinate the trucking schedules, packaging requirements, PPE, finessing with existing operations and contractor personnel to ensure safety, quality and on-time completion. Executing on schedule to lessen cost impact is critical and we have a proven history in performing. The finished product is our assurance that all equipment is received at your new plant ready to produce at the same level.

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