This week one of our missions (had we chosen to accept it…which of course we always do!) was to collect 3 reels of heavy duty cable from our customer’s premises in Winchester,
Hampshire and offload in Wales.
Winchester being famous for amongst other things its medieval Cathedral and
remains of Wolvesey Castle which in its day housed in the great hall the medieval Round Table linked to King Arthur.
Our driver arrived bright and early and ready to take on the world, firstly he positioned his
vehicle close enough to the load to be able to easily lift the reels and ensured there was enough space around him to be able to fully extend the legs of the hiab and place the feet on what we call outrigger pads, these are specifically designed mats that withstand and evenly distribute the weight on the ground improving safety and stability.
Once the driver was happy that he was correctly positioned he connected his chains to the first support bar which had been placed through the central hole of the reel and then ensured that the second support bar was positioned just above the reel between the chains this acted as separation for the chains to ensure that there would be no crushing or damaging of the actual flange.
He was now ready with his remote control to slowly and carefully one by one lift the reels onto the truck avoiding any oscillation which could ultimately cause damage.
When all three reels were loaded with the flanges in an upright position, the core being arranged perpendicularly to the direction of travel, the locks and wedges being secured to the bed of the lorry to ensure that that the reels didn’t turn and were adequately locked into position… he was finally ready to rock and roll…. well in this instance – absolutely “NO” rolling allowed!!
Then a quick drive straight up the A34, along the M4 corridor and within 4 hours the three reels were successfully being offloaded at their final destination in Cardiff which is not only the capital of Wales but like Winchester is also steeped in history with a Castle or two….
We think this cable was destined to make a very cool structure at one of Wales’ awesome attractions – perhaps a bridge like this one.
We do lots of loads involving the transportation of large cable reels all over the country so
whether you have something similar or just looking for hiab transport why not have a chat with our Operations Team and let them take the reeling out of your dilemma.
Call us on 0800 915 23 23 or fill in one of our contact forms…
