Beam Hauling

Tiny

Well-known member
Used to haul concrete beams daily out of Kansas City , Kansas . Think the shortest was 22 feet . Longest was 110 feet . The 110s were about the longest you could get out of the plant without a steerable trailer . The beam in this picture was a " Bulb Tee " . Top flange was wider that the bottom and top heavy also .

There were no solid connections between the bolster and the the dolly . Air and light lines hang off of rebar hooks that hung over the side of the beam . Took about 15 minutes to set the beam down the toss a couple of chains on each end to get pulled up out the way of the next truck .
 

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Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
110 feet!! That's a long ass trailer!! How much did they weigh?

When I was hauling freight, I'd see beams like this on Rt. 84, along with a different style of what I thought was a beam, two upright beams connected by a horizontal piece. I wondered for the longest time what they were, I'd see them over and over. I was in a parking garage one time when it finally struck me, they were prefabricated sections of the parking garage.
 

Tiny

Well-known member
110 feet!! That's a long ass trailer!! How much did they weigh?

When I was hauling freight, I'd see beams like this on Rt. 84, along with a different style of what I thought was a beam, two upright beams connected by a horizontal piece. I wondered for the longest time what they were, I'd see them over and over. I was in a parking garage one time when it finally struck me, they were prefabricated sections of the parking garage.
Depending on the height from 85,000 to worst I had on was 100,000 . The parking garage pieces are nicknamed double tee's around here , early precast building used double tee's for wall panels in buildings .

Best day I had was when I had 109 footer on and headed in the gravel road a mile and a 1/4 only to find out I needed to be backed in ;( Had to back out to the highway to turn around
 
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Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
That had to be interesting! I imagine you have to do a lot of planning ahead while backing, hell, while going forward too!! The longest I pulled was 53 feet.
 

Tiny

Well-known member
You might find this hard to believe but backing with a trailer that long is not that bad the dolly reacts real slow so you can slip in to the high side in reverse and still look like you know what your doing
 

rzucker

Well-known member
There used to be an outfit out of Spokane Wa that hauled a lot of bridge beams in the 70s and 80s, that actually had a driver that steered the dolly on their beam moves. Im not sure how long the beams were, but they were looong. Usually had an old GMC Astro for a tractor. They also had a massive self-steer lowboy that could do 250 ton transformer moves for the utility companies. IIRC.. Bee-Line Transport? I may be wrong, its been years.
 

mike kahl

Member
In the early 80's I worked for a company making precast panels. Using high strength concrete we could pour one day, load on truck next day. Used to build a parking garage in Balti. Small angle iron clips imbedded in the ends were welded to each to make the conections. It was kind of scary knowing how they were held together.
 

mike kahl

Member
Sorry Steve, It's been so long ago I can't remember who did the hauling. Seems lately I can't remember what I did last week.
 

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Know the feeling :bangh

The ones I saw on a regular basis were hauled east on I-84 through NY with the trucks I mentioned. I don't remeber the name of the company either, I just assumed they belonged to the manufacturer, but it could have been a transportation company just as easily.
 

JeffreyHoff

New member
Of course, hauling concrete beams isn't a easy task..so does the rear of the load, which rests on a swiveling bunk atop the truck and the front end of the load rests on another, anyways good job:)
 
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