EXCITEMENT GRIPPED sections of southern Clarendon yesterday, when Jamalco bauxite/alumina company transported a massive steam boiler from its Rocky Point port facilities to the company's refinery at Halse Hall.
The movement of the 350-tonne piece of equipment, the largest of its kind to have been assembled and shipped out of the United States, necessitated the complete closure of the 14-kilometre route, forcing a standstill of vehicular traffic for hours. Additionally, power and telephone lines had to be disabled along the entire route, with all wiring running across the route being taken down temporarily.
TRANSPORTATION
The massive boiler, a key component of Jamalco's ongoing expansion programme, was transported on a special trailer unit which bore all of 180 wheels in clusters that could be turned in different directions. Its movement and accommodation along the roadway, which the boiler completely engulfed in most cases, was facilitated by large contingents of technical personnel, including from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo.), Cable and Wireless (C&W) and the National Works Agency (NWA), as well as private Jamalco contractors and staff personnel.
POLICE SECURITY
Security and traffic enforcement were handled by a large contingent of police personnel.
From 6:30 a.m., the large technical team embarked on the projected six-hour journey from the Rocky Point port, moving mostly through canefields in the earlier stages before gradually emerging on the Lionel Town to Hayes main road. There problems emerged when taxi operators mainly, who were bent on disregarding the traffic measures in place, had to be restrained by the police at various points along the route. However, once the taxi men saw the boiler and realised that it took up the entire roadway in most cases, they readily complied with the instructions of the police.
Meandering gingerly up to Hayes square, during which time even streetlights had to be temporarily removed in some cases, to accommodate its passage, the huge trailer and boiler drew awe from residents who gathered along the roadway, to witness the historic occasion. "How it look like a house so?" persons kept asking.
MILESTONE FOR COMPANY
Travelling in the truck conveying the boiler, Jamalco's Community Development Administrator, Pamella White, described the exercise, which was completed more than an hour ahead of the scheduled 12:30 p.m. arrival at its Halse Hall destination, as a milestone for both the company and the country. She said the steam unit would greatly enhance Jamalco's ongoing expansion programme, as it would enable the company to produce much more energy to the power plant.
