Please find details of just some of our previous hover barge projects.
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Suriname Swamp Drilling
Althev Oil Field services Ltd approached Hovertrans to solve their logistical
problem of drilling in the remote swamps of Suriname, S.America.
The Hovertrans answer was a 330 ton payload hover drill barge, with a unique
10ft x 40ft drilling slot. The cleaver design allowed assembly to take
place on the edge of the swamp with limited equipment and resources.
Alyeska Pipeline
The Trans Alaskan pipeline was in danger of slowing down because at the centre
of its 1280 km route was the mile wide Yukon River - forming a hazardous natural
barrier.
With the road bridge behind schedule, the river frozen over part of the year
and a strong, fast flowing river the remainder of the year, there was no
solution for a continuous trucking service across the river.
Two 160 ton payload hover barges providing a roll on/roll off service were
built in record time and provided the construction teams over 3000 tons of cargo
a day, with an operating efficiency of 95%.
Abu Dhabi
Das Island, 178 km off Abu Dhabi, was a liquification plant due to be expanded.
To move the large amount of plant required would have meant building docking
facilities at both Das Island and Abu Dhabi.
The problem was solved by supplying a large sea going Hover barge
(amphibious) named "Sea Pearl". Capable of carrying a load of 250
tons, there was no need for constructing a port.
Built to meet Lloyds regulations, and capable of 2-3m wave heights, the
"Sea Pearl" was unique.
Dead Sea
Working on a geological survey in the Dead Sea was not the easiest of projects.
The area is hot, with quick sands, shallow water, and salt mushrooms some 45 cms
(18 inches) high scattered through the area, and the distance from shore was up
to 25 km.
A modular 30-ton payload Hover barge was trucked to location and towed with a
Rollogon soft tyre tractor to the drilling sites. Each day was a new location
and the hover barge could even sit on hot liquid sands without sinking or
sticking.
Whereas a man will exert 5-10 psi (0.35-0.70 kgf/cm.sq), the barge has a
ground pressure of less than 1 psi (0.07 kgf/cm sq). This means the barge was
able to cover the soft sands, shallow water, and salt out crops without delay,
and no cord roads or dredging was required.
US Coast Guard
The Hovertrans air cushion platform's icebreaking technique is very simple,
being relative to its air cushion pressure capacity. As the platform moves over
the ice, the air cushion pressure from the platform creates a thin gap between
the bottom of the ice and the water. The water is forced away, leaving the ice
suspended on a cantilever. As it becomes heavier the ice snaps off and sinks
below the hover platform.
An example of this application was to be found on the Illinois River in the
United States. A platform which was pushed by a flat bottom river tender kept
the channel open during the winter months. The performance was impressive as
slush ice of up to 10 ft thick was cleared and plate ice of up to 15" thick
was broken with ease.
Although more efficient and economical than a traditional ice breaker, the
platform had no special refinements and could be used at other times of the year
as a transporter
Ice Breaker Click to View extra pictures
George Wimpey
George Wimpey used the hover barge for taking core samples in difficult areas.
The photo on the left illustrates a 50-70 ton payload unit working over tidal
mud flats off the English Norfolk coast. Exposed to tidal races that moved at 10
knots and large areas of mud flats at low tide the hover barge was the perfect
answer for accessing this difficult area.
