Slab  and Coil Frames – Toll Transport

Bluescope’s Port Kembla mill produces thousands of tonnes of steel slab and coil product every month, and moving these loads from the mill to the port is a major logistics exercise.  Toll won the contract for shifting this product and purchased a number of Lusty Low Loader trailers to fulfill it.

The trailers however only went part way to achieving Toll’s ambitions for the project.  Toll were looking to transport over 80t of product each load and the normal restraint methods of chaining down the load would have been massively inefficient and time consuming.  An engineered design was required to maximise efficiency by reducing or eliminating the need for chains altogether and be specifically suited for the movement of individual items of rolled steel coil up to 28t and large steel slabs up to 30t on private roads.

Solidtech Engineering designed and drafted the slab frames, providing a method focused on load blocking and containment rather than restraint.  Three key features of the design were the firstly the design of a headboard and pipe crush system capable of withstanding the massive inertial forces of a full load under heavy braking.  Secondly the use of container castings fitting to the twistlocks allows for rapid changeout of the frames, and thirdly designing the crossmember arms for enough deflection to take up the manufacturing tolerances inherent in this pinning method.

We also designed and drafted the coil frames, reducing the need for chains to about 7% of the total product range.  Key features of this design were again the use of twistlocks and container castings for rapid changeout and frame security, and also the easily-replaced load plates with rubber friction matting for quick and simple maintenance.