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DEFYING GRAVITY: KEEPING WORKERS WARM ON MIGHTY MAC

Location

Michigan, US

Demand

Safe refueling on a suspension bridge

Solution

TransCube and gear pump

Response

Safe, uninterrupted energy

“The alternative was to manually carry 5-gallon tanks up staircases in each of the 500-foot towers of ‘Mighty Mac’”

Defying gravity to preserve an infrastructure icon

When the Mackinac Bridge Authority awarded a contract to repaint the 5th longest suspension bridge in the world, the Department of Transport stipulated the supplier couldn’t leave a stationary fuel tank on the carriageway. The alternative was to manually carry 5-gallon tanks up staircases in each of the 500-foot towers of ‘Mighty Mac’. They needed a solution to keep their blasting and painting platform warm through winter conditions of minus 40 and gusts of 100mph. Our brief was to ensure fuel was pumped 300-feet up over the water, providing a consistent, uninterrupted energy supply throughout the three-year project.

Project Solution

Mobile tank feeds transportable storage

​This was the first time in the bridge’s history its towers had been stripped to bare metal for repainting. So, the contractor knew it would require innovative ideas. Our solution was an H20TCG CAB mobile tank with 483-gallon capacity and highway approvals to travel the bridge.

Using a Gorman-Rupp high-pressure pump and 300ft of marine hose, it fed a 10TCG TransCube Global high up in the scaffold to ensure a ready fuel supply, keeping the workforce safe from the elements – and risks of drips, leaks or spills. These are stock items – and it took our engineering team no time to suggest a ready-made solution.

The Product

TransCube Global

“This was the first time in the bridge’s history its towers had been stripped to bare metal for repainting - it would require innovative ideas”

The Results

Savings – time and labour saving
Efficiency – continuous back up supply
Safety – lower risk of spills and accidents
Flexible – mobile and transportable tanks
Ready – stock items, used in a hybrid format
“A tank high up in the scaffold ensured a ready fuel supply, keeping the workforce safe from the elements – and risks”

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