Power equipment logistics
Transformers, turbines and switchgear, from the factory to the pad inside your outage window.
Two kinds of transformer move
Most transformer moves are one of two jobs. A failed unit has to be replaced before the outage runs out. A new unit has to arrive the day the substation, the plant or the data hall is ready for it, and not before.
Either way the piece is often the most valuable single item on the project, built for one site, and a replacement takes a long time to build. The manufacturer sets limits on tilt and shock and names the points it may be lifted from. Break those limits and the warranty can be lost before the unit is ever energized.
A shock recorder rides with the transformer, first lift to set
We put shock recorders on transformer loads and leave them there for the whole move, from the origin to the pad.
An impact recorder logs every jolt the unit takes, with its force and the moment it happened. If a reading passes the manufacturer's limit, the record shows where in the move it occurred: on the vessel, at the port, on the road or under the crane. That is the question a utility or an owner has to answer before energizing a unit, and the recorder answers it with data instead of opinion.
Built on the manufacturer's sheet and the outage window
Handling limits choose the equipment
We ask for the transport and rigging instructions with the purchase order. Tilt and shock limits, lifting points and the center of gravity set the trailer, the tie-downs and the lift plan.
The outage window is the fixed point
Permits, escorts, partner equipment and crews are scheduled back from the hour the bay is released. One coordinator holds that schedule and tells you the moment it moves.
The live site is agreed in advance
Access, clearance to energized equipment and the exclusion zone around the set are agreed with the site before the crew arrives.
Sets inside a working substation
A substation set happens in the hours the operator can release the bay, often at night or over a weekend, next to equipment that stays in service. Where the yard has room, a crane flies the unit onto the pad. Where it does not, a hydraulic gantry lifts it off the trailer and lowers it between the steel.
The people who run our moves have completed more than 200 heavy hauls, and the heaviest single piece among them was a 550,000 lb transformer. That record is the team's own, built under a different company.
Gas turbines and whole power plants
Transformers are only part of it. Rocore moves gas turbines and whole power plants too.
A turbine
A gas turbine usually ships on its own base, with its generator, enclosure and auxiliary skids travelling as separate loads. Each one has its own lifting points, and they have to arrive in the order the installers will set them.
A whole plant
A plant moves as many pieces, each with a drawing, a weight and a place in the sequence. Most of the work is order: what leaves first, what lands first and what waits in storage until its foundation is ready.
Used turbines and plants are for sale through Rocore as well. We can deliver what we sell, and we prefer to.
Power for a data center, on the energization date
There is rarely a spare transformer waiting in a yard. A unit that arrives damaged can hold a data center's opening for months, and every trade on site waits with it.
We plan the deliveries backward from the energization date. The piece the electricians need first lands first, and the rest waits in storage until its room is ready.
Equipment we move
A large power transformer ships heavy, tall and drained of its oil. Switchgear ships light but cannot take a hard landing. A wind blade ships long and swings wide on every turn. Each needs its own trailer and its own route.
Grid and substation
- Power transformers for substations and generator step-up
- Pad-mount and distribution transformers
- Switchgear and control cabinets
- Prefabricated electrical buildings and electrical houses
Generation and data centers
- Gas turbines, their generators and auxiliary skids
- Complete power plants
- Wind turbine components
- Transformers, switchgear and generator sets for data centers
A unit on order or due for replacement? Send us the shipping weight, the dimensions and the outage dates.
Before the unit ships
What should we send with the purchase order?
The manufacturer's transport and rigging instructions, the shipping weight and dimensions, the center of gravity if it is marked, a drawing of the pad and the outage dates as they stand. Missing items can follow.
Does a transformer travel with a shock recorder?
Yes, for the whole move. Any impact can be traced to the leg where it happened.
Can you set the unit inside a fixed outage window?
Yes. The window is the fixed point and the plan is scheduled back from it. If the outage moves, the plan moves with it and you get the revised schedule.
What if the manufacturer's limits and the site disagree?
We raise it with you and the manufacturer before anything is booked. A tilt limit the route cannot meet, or a lifting point the gantry cannot reach, is a question only the manufacturer can answer.
Do you move turbines and plants, or only transformers?
All of them. Gas turbines, whole power plants, switchgear and data center power equipment are planned the same way: handling limits first, then the route, then the set.
Send us the unit and the outage window
Tell us what the unit is, where it ships from, where the pad is and when the outage opens. If you have the manufacturer's transport instructions, send those too.