All wrapped up

Steve Sutherlin

The barge (pictured above) on the Columbia River at Pasco, Wash. holds modules up to 70 feet in length and weighing as much as 180,000 pound. Shrink-wrapped for clean transport to the North Slope, the modules were built in Calgary for VECO Alaska Inc. and were trucked to Pasco in May.

The modules were custom wrapped in Pasco by Palmer-based Dura-Wrap Containments & Plastics Supply, then loaded onto a Foss barge for shipping to Anchorage. In Anchorage the units were transferred to Carlile Transportation Services Inc. trucks for the journey overland to Prudhoe Bay.

The polyethylene film prevents road grime from attacking the structures in transport, preserves the investment of the owners, and insures that the units are clean and ready to function properly at the destination, John Hutchinson, founder and owner of Dura-Wrap, said.

The film is sealed around an item, becoming a bag. When heat is applied correctly, he said, the wrap contracts up to 30 percent, forming a contour fit.

Dura-Wrap calls its proprietary protective film "low-density polyethylene shrink wrap." The module wrap is considerably heavier than the seven-mil plastic used to wrap boats — a service the company also performs, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson hatched the idea of wrapping loads for North Slope shipments after years as a specialty trucker of wrap-protected loads.

Dura-Wrap’s heavy industrial wrapping is manufactured to custom specifications for heavy equipment and modules. Use of the proper material, properly applied, is important to prevent failure of the wrap, he said. A breech can damage the shipment, and if the covering comes off on a highway it can create a traffic hazard.

"Every module I’ve ever done made it to Prudhoe," Hutchinson said.

"We use high-U.V. rated, 100 percent virgin material," he said. "Every module is different. We reinforce, soften, and add material and supports — whatever it takes."