Big moves for DST

Dawes Specialized Transport (DST) and Dawes Crane & Rigging participated in two of the largest moves made in 2008 in Wisconsin, US. They helped Vision Logistics move 10 giant kiln shells, three riding rings, and a massive P & H mining shovel to the Port of Milwaukee. DST used its fleet of heavy specialized equipment, including its 100- and 200-ton (91 and 181 tonne) capacity lowboy trailer configurations.

The kiln sections and the 18-foot (5.5 m) rings, headed for the Seadrift Coke Plant in Seadrift, Texas, weighed between 75,000 and 125,000 pounds (34 and 57 tonnes) each. The largest kiln section weighed 125,000 pounds and measured 58 feet long by 15 feet, 2 inches in diameter (17.7 x 4.6 m). One of the largest kilns ever hauled by DST, it was transported to the port to be loaded onto two river hopper barges for the trip to Texas.

The mining shovel, bound for the Port of St. Petersburg, Russia, required more than 50 truckloads, with the largest piece for the shovel the revolving frame, weighing 214,000 pounds (97 tonnes) and 32 feet long by 15 feet, 2 inches wide and 11 feet, 4 inches tall (9.7 x 4.6 x 3.5 m). Fully assembled the shovel will weigh 2,900,000 pounds (1,315 tonnes) and have a bucket capacity of 115 tons (104 tonnes) — the largest mining shovel that P & H produces and that DST has ever moved. DST moved the shovel to the port in one week so the ship could leave the Great Lakes before the winter freeze.

DST Inc. and Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental, Inc., based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are All Erection & Crane Rental Corp. family companies.