Mission completed! The Péniche Walhall with a 120-ton transformer (dimensions 8,70 m x 3,00 m x 4,00 m) on board ex Linz without transhipment when it docks in Chalon-sur-Saône, France.
Toni Nicolay is relieved: although he has been organizing inland waterway transports for Haeger & Schmidt Logistics (HSL) for 17 years now, this project was a first. “As far as I know, no transformer has ever gone directly from the Danube via the Rhine and French waterways to the south of France before,” he says.
Normally, such heavy transports from Austria or Slovenia are shipped on larger inland vessels from Linz to the seaports of Rotterdam or Antwerp, where they are transferred to a péniche to their destination in France. “There is enough capacity on the Danube to take heavy cargo as a side load. That’s why it’s the common solution from an economic point of view,” Nicolay explains.
As few transhipments as possible
But the customer’s requirement for this project was: as few transhipments and reloads as possible. This gave Nicolay the idea of testing the direct inland waterway route for the first time. First, a ship had to be identified that was capable of transporting a heavyweight of 120 tons in shallow and narrow waters. For Nicolay, the determining element for the ship selection was the dimensions of the locks. He knows the local ship market, so he immediately knew, “The Wallhall is one of the few péniches suitable for such transport.”
The light blue-painted Walhall, built in 1973, took on the job. With its dimensions of 39 m x 5.08 m, it fit through each of the 113 locks it had to pass through during the transport. And due to its load capacity of 305 tons, it was suitable for the heavy transformer. In addition, the ship’s floor was reinforced with steel plates, which also served to improve weight distribution in the hold.
Felbermayr organizes the rail pre-transport and transhipment
But not only the main run on the waterway was organised sustainably. The first transport section from the plant in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana to Linz was done without road transport. The company Felbermayr, which specialises in transport and lifting technology, provided the appropriate railway wagon for the preliminary run and loaded the transformer onto the Walhall with a suitable crane at its own heavy Lift terminal in Linz.
The actual transport by barge took about one month. During this time, Nicolay was in daily communication with the crew to provide the customer with transparent data about the transport. Nicolay reports, “Our tasks included monitoring and documenting that there was no pressure drop of the transformer. We also passed on a daily position report of the péniche to the client.”
Close monitoring of strike and weather map
Walhall had to take a short forced break on 15 March 2023. One day after French President Emanuel Macron announced his pension reform, strikes paralyzed the entire country. “Our péniche was about to pass through one of the locks on the Rhine-Rhône Canal in Alsace when an action by lock workers in Dannemarie forced it to stop. Fortunately, the incident only lasted a few hours,” says Nicolay with relief. Overall, he says, it is noticeable that the French government is making great efforts to maintain the waterways, also for transports related to the energy industry. For example, investments are currently being made in the digitalization of the locks on the Rhine-Rhône Canal.
In addition to the strike situation, Nicolay always kept an eye on the weather map. He says, “Even with three to four days of rain, water levels can rise extremely quickly on the small rivers. This is especially true for the Doub River, which is part of the Rhine-Rhône Canal. The mountain river, which originates in the Swiss Jura and flows into the Saône, has many pitfalls, so that a very good knowledge of the area is a prerequisite for navigating the ship in these waters. This is especially true during high water, which can quickly block navigation.” But the weather was kind to the Walhall on his journey, so there were no delays as a result.
Arriving in Chalon-sur-Saône, the transformer almost made it to its destination. The consignee’s factory port specializes in heavy-lift cargo handling. From here, the cargo was transported just a few 100 m by special truck to the production site.
The transport sections on the waterway
- from Linz to Kelheim on the Danube
- from Kelheim to Bamberg on the Main-Danube Canal
- Bamberg to Mainz on the Main
- Mainz to Niffer on the Rhine
- from Niffer to Dole on the Rhine-Rhône Canal
- from Dole to Chalon-sur-Saône on the river Saône